I Love RTHK & Suzie Wong...我爱RTHK和苏丝黄...RTHKとスージーウォンが大好き...

I would like to introduce to readers the Wonderful World of Suzie Wong, a 1960 Hollywood production which was a box-office hit in America. Set in 50s Hong Kong telling the tale of a 'Wanchai Girl' with a heart of gold falling in love with a poor American painter.

This film introduced to American and worldwide audiences for the first time the beauty of the 50s-60s style cheongsam worn by Chinese women in Hong Kong and South East Asia and very popular at the time. As a huge cheongsam fan myself, i loved the tight body-hugging high neckline n slit cheongsams shown in this movie as well as the multitude of on-location scenes of what Hong Kong looked like back in the late 1950s (priceless shots, really!). Please have a watch of what Hong Kong cheongsams (very accurate, verified from a cheongsam 'expert' like me! haha) and Hong Kong looked like back in its poorer days in the late 50s.

Entire film is available for viewing on youtube, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9-A19RezTc&feature=player_profilepage

Also, I love RTHK (Hong Kong's only public broadcasting station) current affairs programs as well as docus alot. They show aspects of Hong Kong society which may not be readily known to outsiders, usually focusing on the underbelly and socially discriminated or disadvantaged groups in Hong Kong and their daily struggles and triumphs. I especially like how they focus on not only the problems of these people, but also on the kindness and unextinguishable spirit of the common person and the optimism and hope one can have to overcome adversity in life. The episodes are available online for viewing (for those whom understand Cantonese or can read Traditional Chinese characters as subtitles are available for most programs in Chinese characters.) here: http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/program_archive.cgi?progdir=tv/commonfolks&event_name=%3F%3F+%3F%3F+銋%3F+甇%3F+%0A

~Enjoy!

Queer Cinema in Asia Recommendations 2009..亚洲同志电影推介2009年...2009年のアジアゲイ映画お勧め

In Asia, recent years have seen a flourishing of Gay films in the mainstream media and undoubtedly, Taiwan and the Philippines have led this queer Asian film charge ahead of other countries such as South Korea which have also produced many gay-themed movies...as i said before, I believe in Asia, the most gay-friendly countries are definitely Thailand, the Philippines, and Taiwan. In terms of media coverage, the Philippines definitely comes up on top for its gay-friendly and wide-ranging exposure of gay storylines/characters whilst I'd say Taiwan comes in second in terms of media queer-friendliness.

There's been many gay Filipino films in the past 5 yrs, and this yr there's been many films as well..but i'm only looking forward to 'In my Life' by Philippine's veteran Star 'for all Seasons' Ms. Vilma Santos, one of Filipino Cinema's most recognised and esteemed actresses as well as starring John Lloyd Cruz, the leading Filipino box-office lead currently as well as hunky Luis Manzano!

Here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf9ae_0f_jQ

A Taiwanese film dealing with the same theme of gayness is the film which is produced by veteran and probably THE most famous Taiwanese producer/screenwriter Wu Nien-Jen of the film 'Tou-San' (1994) fame. I'm really looking forward to this film about a colour-blind young girl and her gay cousin living in a small fishing village in rural Taiwan.

Here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5cx-uf18xk

Another gay Taiwanese film, Neon Hearts, being an interracial romance between a teenage Swedish boy and a teenage Taiwanese boy, is also coming up this yr, trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5r06evlreE

Given it's three gay male films to look out for pointed out for this year, lesbians, fret not, there's been many lesbian themed films and i personally like 'Saving Face' made by Taiwanese-American Alice Wu starring Lynn Chen (she's gorgeous!), Michelle Krusiec (i identify alot with her personality), and Joan Chen, whole movie here from 2004: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVVQq9Hkjuk

Also, one of my all-time fav Taiwanese films (note this is not just for the LGBT category but for the Taiwan Film entire category, it's THAT good for me.) which i first saw at the Melbourne In'tl Film Festival bck in the early 2000s and had not much expectation but was overwhelmed by the finishing scene-Blue Gate Crossing. Fan Trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viiPb6z1ues&feature=related

Not to mention, THE BIGGEST NEWS out yet this year, in the HK entertainment industry, ...hold your breaths ppl (for those familiar with Hong Kong's entertainment scene ala 80s/90s)...Vivian Chow, the most celebrated and 'originator' of the term 'Jade Girl' in HK, whom retired from filming in 1996 and was well-known for being THE Jade Girl of the 80s/early 90s is making a comeback to the big-screen! And in a lesbian romantic comedy opp. Sandra Ng (my FAVOURITE HK comedian actress of ALL-TIME) to be funded by Wong Jing and helmed by esteemed award-winning director Ann Hui-On Wah. OH MY GOD. This is BIG. BIG NEWS. Given Vivian Chow's choice of this movie as her comeback movie after a 13 yr hiatus, it shows how much society has changed that a romantic comedy dealing with two lesbians can be made into a commercial mainstream hk flick, and also HK's pre-eminent Jade girl, known for her feminine, good-girl image from the 80's would choose this lesbian romantic comedy as her comeback movie..i can't wait!

Now, whoever said Asia was behind in terms of queer representation in the media and positive images/role characters in its media? I'm constantly doing my part to correct this incorrect perception many Westerners, Asians, and even gay Asians have that somehow or other, Asia is very behind in terms of gay rights, visibility, role models, when it isn't! In certain countries in Asia it is the case (re: Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia,etc) but definitely not in Taiwan and the Philippines, two countries which hold a very special place in my heart!

PS: Update 29/10: Taiwan's Annual Gay Pride Parade, held in Taipei and also Asia's largest gay pride parade, will be held on 31st October 2009. My very best wishes to my compatriot Taiwanese as well as overseas participants whom will be attending (predicted to surpass 20,000 marchers this yr!) . In addition, Discovery Channel Taiwan has decided to broadcast Taiwan's very first Documentary focusing on contemporary gay & lesbian Life in Taiwan and societal/political acceptance and changes in the past decade or so.

Trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/user/lovepeacing2009#p/a/u/0/ckS0ou5eA_8

(I SOOO wanna see this!! Please record it and put it on youtube and inform me anyone living in Taiwan! Pretty pretty PLEASE?!)

Human Rights Focus: Child Prostitution and World Hunger...人权焦点：儿童卖春与世界饥饿....人権フォーカス：児童買春と世界飢餓...

I came across these documentaries ( i love docos!) on youtube and thought i'd share it with my fellow bloggers and blog readers, i was simply disgusted when watching them, i wanted to puke ..men, the root cause of all evil..and ppl ask me why i'm such a militant feminist..:

Caution: What you are about to see and hear is truly disturbing so please watch at your own discretion. Also you can see how widespread the problem of child prostitution is, spanning from Africa to Asia to Europe and all other continents as well.
1) Child Prostitution in Kenya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdkhIW3QuVg
2) Child Prostitution in Indonesia:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw_e-E00e-8&feature=channel
3) Child Prostitution in Romania: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz8R3mC1TEg&feature=related

On another unrelated but equally important note, did ppl know that world hunger is becoming a more and more serious problem now? It is estimated by the UN World Food Program that over 1 billion people are starving or suffering from hunger currently (YES, 1 BILLION people, meaning 1/6th of the world's entire population are currently suffering from hunger). And also apparently every 6 seconds, a child dies from hunger in the world today. Truly depressing figures.
Link to an Aljazeera Program (my fav English cable news network) on World Hunger: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/insidestory/2009/09/2009920134113629813.html
Oh gosh, with my post on child prostitution and world hunger, this post is truly very depressing ain't it??

Fifties Fairs....in Sydney 2009!!!....五十年代嘉年华会在雪梨.....五十年代の祭りシドニーで..

Above: A touch of 50's class...

When i chanced upon the advertising leaflet promoting the 15th Annual 'Fifties Fair' in Sydney, I knew I just had to go!!!! Given that I am a 50s/60s fan of the cheongsam and that era, how could I miss it! What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon mixing amidst the crowd of 50s inspired and dressed ppl and pretending that I had been transported bck to the 1950s. Of cos, for Chinese representation, I wore my cheongsam top there..heheh..

I was very surprised to see the huge crowds there as the location is in Turrumurra which is really far north away from the city and inner suburbs, on the outer edges of Sydney already and tics cost $20 per adult and $55 per family which was quite costly, especially in a global financial crisis and with this being such a niche event, frankly i was expecting not many ppl to turn up..but boy was I wrong!! There were throngs of ppl and even queues to enter the fair! Cos it's held at this 40's built heritage house and enclosed garden estate and not very big...there were many ppl in 50's inspired fashion parading about and a 50s fashion contest as well as 50s style music and dance presentations ( i enjoyed the dance presentations alot!!!) and lots of stalls set up selling 50s/60s collectible items and fashion such as magazines, dresses, ties, shirts, 50s floral prints, etc..

Anyways, let the photos do the talking!

Above and Below: At the Bus Stop waiting for the shuttle bus to ferry us to the Fifties Fair..
Above: Entrance to the Sydney 15th Annual Fifties Fair 2009...

Above and Below: 60's Style...I was tempted to buy the 50/60s printed cloth cos what better way to make a cheongsam-inspired creation than with original 50s cloth material????

Above: Women getting their '50s makeover' at the booth...

Above: Lil' red riding hood with her cellphone..hahaha..

Above: Girls digging into their ice-creams on a warm Winter afternoon in their fifties outfits...

Above: Stalls selling 50's stuff...

Above: A sign of the times...guess whom won the 'Best 50s Couple' category..yep, the two ladies in the above photo..hehe..whether they're a real lesbian couple or not, it definitely goes to show a sign of the times, when a same-sex couple can beat the other straight couples to win a best couple contest..hehe..

Above: 50s Fashion Competition Parade..

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival 2009!... 中秋节快乐2009!...

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival my fellow readers~

Hope you all have a wonderful family gathering +reunion, and of course, have plenty of mooncakes too!

I've already had my fill, i like only the white lotus mooncake without the egg-yolk. I usually buy the ones imported from Hong Kong called 'Wing Wah Mooncakes', which is freakin expensive at $41 per box of 4 regular sized mooncake without egg-yolks..but quite ok if you share with friends the cost...what type of mooncake variety do my readers like? With the consumerism culture and innovative designs available nowadays, there's plenty of varieties and unique tastes to choose from, so do share readers!!

PS: For those whom wanna know more bout the story behind the Mid-Autumn Festival, click on wiki here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

Taiwan's Chen Shui Bian Sentenced to Life Imprisonment..

If any of you have been following, Taiwan's Ex-President Chen Shui Bian has been sentenced to life imprisonment along with his wife on several corruption charges. His son-in-law and daughter have also been found guilty on several counts of money laundery and fined millions. He has also been fined millions along with his wife ON TOP of the life sentence.

This could possibly be the only case in Asia where an ex-President has been found guilty of corruption charges and actually been imprisoned and forced to serve a life imprisonment sentence. Quite frankly, I think its extremely naive for those whom support this decision as a sign of Taiwan's mature democracy as i think the decision is extremely politically-motivated. I mean anyone knows that all of Taiwan's ex-leaders have been corrupt and way more corrupt than Chen esp during the pre-1987 era under KMT dictatorial rule but no one then nor has any KMT president ever been found guilty of corruption, much less prosecuted or even a life sentence! But once a DPP leader comes, the KMT wasted no time at all in prosecuting Chen once Ma got elected and the Prosecution kept leaking information to the press and the mainstream media in Taiwan (which is extremely pro-KMT) kept their one-sided reportage of the ongoing trial of Chen such that he could not get a fair trial. Even the original presiding Judge of the case was swapped when he decided to grant bail to Chen and threatened with treason, how fair can Chen's trial be?!! Then another judge came in and decided to refuse Chen's bail application meaning Taiwan's Ex-President was and is still forced to sit in prison awaiting his trial..and there's no good reason for that! Like how in the world do they think Chen can escape Taiwan if let out on bail? It's simply a tactic by the KMT and pan-blue supporters to humiliate him...There's seriously no credible reason to continue to detain Chen in such an undignified manner..and you know what? The media in Taiwan even decided Chen was given too much 'preferential treatment' in prison, analysing and scrutinising what he got to eat for Chinese New Year in prison...i mean WTF?!!! He's an Ex-President, putting him in prison whilst awaiting trial is totally an abuse of judicial power in the first place with a strong hint of interference with the judicial system by the ruling KMT party, and he can't even get a lil' better prison food??!! Heck, he's spending CNY in prison ppl, give him a break!

The Taiwanese mainstream media and newspapers are mainly pro-China and pro-reunification with China and thus spare no opportunity in degrading Chen and pan-Green Independence supporters at any cost..for instance, Sisy Chen's news program (she's one of the more popular tv hosts in Taiwan) shows her bias against the DPP when she repeatedly wondered aloud what the point of anti-Ma anti-China bias demonstrations were for earlier in the year despite there being real concerns over Ma's current extremely pro-China stance and policies which seek to threaten Taiwan's national security and sovereignty. The fact they were held peacefully (which is a rare occurence) was something to be celebrated but all Sisy could talk about was what the point was, how tourism went down during the demos,etc..yea bla bla bla, and no one in the mainstream media bothered to criticise the huge anti-Chen demos in 2004 and in 2007 (i think) where the pan-Blue camp refused to accept Chen's mandate to rule and refused to accept election riots (despite the narrow margin) and continued to riot ceaselessly for his resignation..back then the likes of Sisy would go on their shows saying how 'shameless' Chen was, etc, see how many ppl didn't support his govt, how he should resign, etc...not a mention of the 'effect of tourism' or 'what lousy losers the pan-blue camp supporters were for not accepting election riots and committee official conclusions' but it was spinned as 'democracy at work'!

Even when Chen was in office, many ppl and mainstream media refused to call him 'President Chen' saying he wasn't the president as the 2004 election results were scammed and that the attempted assasination of Chen and Lu then was a Chen-preplanned hoax (despite all investigations coming with inconclusive evidence linking the assasination attempt to Chen himself)...this shows how disrespectful many pan-blue Taiwanese are of the democratic system in Taiwan. Many said that the election in 2004 was 'one of the biggest joke in the world' . NOPE. The biggest shameful joke was actually the ensuing refusal to accept Chen as the democratically elected President of Taiwan and holding massive ongoing demonstrations calling for his resignation, basically SORE LOSERS..thank god the Court back then decided the results was constitutional and thus, the power of hooligans did not overcome reason.

You simply can't riot until you get the result and party you want just bcos you are a sore loser...
Unlike America which has a mature democracy, and where Americans by and large accept election results, even in similarly marginal instances such as Taiwan's 2004 results (the 2000 elections between Al Gore and Bush had a similar result with Bush only winning narrowly) and where ppl still call Bush, President Bush even if they dislike him, and where Obama has decided not to go after former Republicans or Republican policies, in Taiwan, you see ppl rioting when they dislike the result, insult their President and decide he should get life imprisonment and crappy prison food, not call him 'President' when he was still in office and even decide to go for all-out 'revenge time' once the new KMT govt comes into power, immediately arresting Chen and other DPP leaders....

and of note, I do not even fall into the usual 'category' of ppl whom support the DPP and pro-independence, in fact, given my socio-economic-geographical background, being 'mainlander', 'middle-class', and living in Taipei's Daan District ( Taiwan's wealthiest and coincidentally also the district with the most 'mainlander heritage' residents in Taiwan) you'd think i'd be very pro-KMT and pro-China..as demographic surveys have shown that those with 'mainlander' heritage and living in northern and mid-Taiwan including especially Taipei City, tend to vote overwhelmingly for pro-China KMT. I simply believe the KMT and their 'Republic of China' illusion carry too much historical baggage and belong to another era and another time.

Note: For those readers unfamiliar with Taiwan's history, the term 'mainlander' or Waishenren, refers to those Taiwanese with grandparents or ancestors came over to Taiwan post-1945. This means those whom do not usually have roots in Taiwan pre-1945 and came over after KMT rule from the Japanese after 1945. Usually it means either both their grandparents or parents are from China or one is from China and the other is local-born Taiwanese.

Sydney Food Recommendations..介绍悉尼的私房饮食..シドニーの好きな食べ物所..

Above: Indonesia in Harmony Festival, Entertainment Quarters Fox Studios.. my first time to Fox Studios/Ent' Quarters..pretty cool place i reckon..but tad lil' out of the way..

Above; Fishmarket, Sydney..a place for good sashimi..most importantly, cheap sashimi..hehe,...

Above and Below: Royal National Park in Sydney, The World's Second Oldest National Park and Australia's Oldest National Park...cool place..amazing experience n good camping/BBQ area..went during august/winter time..my 1st time...

I'd like to recommend some foodie places I enjoy in Sydney and visit on a regular basis, or try to visit on a regular basis....they're all cheap places and so-called 'food haunt's' of mine in this city..hehe..

1) Full House Korean and Japanese restaurant, CBD

This Korean restaurant located at Level 1, 238 Pitt Street, Sydney CBD right across the Galleries Victoria shopping centre serves cheap affordable reasonable korean cuisine with Japanese cuisine such as teppanyaki and sushi as well...what i love about this place is the balcony it has which is overlooking Pitt street busy scenes below....sit outside on the balcony for great views below..and also my favourite kimchi chigae can be ordered here...unlike many kimchi hotpot served in other korean rest. which try to save costs and give you only kimchi and some pork meat pieces, the kimchi tuna hotpot here has kimchi with tuna fish boiled in it which is heavenly..its the tuna pieces which are essential in making this the best kimchi chigae so far for me experienced in Sydney which is at once delicious and affordable..something like $13 altogether with rice and side-dishes...open for lunch and dinner.

2) Joy Cafe, Prince Centre, Haymarket.

This is located on the Quay St side of Prince Centre in Haymarket. I only order the Bakmi Gila here which is superb as its the best indo noodle i've eaten so far...i don't know where they order the noodles from but it's so qq..very bouncy...i usually ask for without the meat and replace the chicken meat they serve on top with plain veges and a fried egg..its a dry kind of noodles usually with dark soy-like sauce with chicken..costs less than $9 from memory..comes with soup as well..

3) Baba Laksa House, Grace Hotel, CBD.

Within the Grace Hotel in the Sydney CBD is this little Malaysian gem. It serves malaysian fare such as laksa, hainan chicken rice, fried rice, siam mee, etc. It is one of the more authentic places for Malaysian fare in Sydney. It opens from 11 30am-3pm i think mon-fri only. It is always busy with the CBD lunch crowd and with limited seating, be sure to arrive either before 12pm or after 2pm for good seats. Prices range from $9 to $13 per dish i think..

4) Ramenkan, Haymarket.

This is literally the best place of ramen in my humble opinion in Sydney in terms of price and authencity and deliciousness. It is located at Level 1, 90 Hay St, Haymarket on the 1st level..you have to take a lift up and the entrance is very obscure...actually the japanese restaurant Wagaya besides on the same street also serves delicious ramen but it only opens at 5pm daily doing the dinner/supper section so ramenkan is a better option for lunch...so i'd recommend wagaya as well for its authentic ramen and izakaya delicacies! Anyways, bck to ramenkan, anything ramen is good here...i like the miso butter corn ramen and negi miso ramen...

In terms of japanese food, and ramen in particular, Sydney serves quite alot of good ramen, unlike melbourne, which has quite crappy japanese food options in terms of affordability (obviously, if you're willing to pay high-end prices, you can still find good japanese cuisine in melb) and authentic ramen..at least this was the case pre-2006 when i was still in melbourne..another good sydney ramen place besides wagaya and ramenkan is menya...

5) Mother Chu Vegetarian and Cho's Dumpling Taiwanese Cuisine, CBD

For Taiwanese cuisine, i personally like Cho's at Prince Centre, Haymarket. It serves pretty authentic Taiwanese street food (well, can never compare with the real deal served in Taiwan of course, but close enough i reckon)....i love the 'xiao chai' (taiwanese side cold dishes similar to korean panchai) which you can order to compliment your meal..i think they're the real scene stealer..you can take them away as well which many ppl do to accompany their home-cooked meals..i also like to order the zha jiang mian...delicious..they also have a counter at hurstville shopping mall which is even better than the haymarket original shop (surprising, i know!!) as at the hurstville counter, you can order a cheap $6.50 'xiao bian tang' which is a taiwanese style-small bento box of rice and two choices of dishes and the variety is very authentic taiwanese food and cheap too..

Mother Chu serves Taiwanese vegetarian and I love ordering the Hong Shao Tofu..which is braised beancurd...absolutely delicious..and it doesn't come cheap too!..it's like at least $16 for the tofu alone..located at 367 Pitt Street...

6) Chat Thai and Thainatown, CBD

For Thai food, i personally like Chat Thai on 20 Campbell Street in the heart of 'Thainatown' in Sydney CBD...it serves delicious thai food in a good atmosphere and more importantly, has an opening hr until 2am at night every night ( i think!) so its a good supper place as they have a separate supper menu from the dinner menu! Website:http://www.chatthai.com.au/

I also like Thainatown on Goulburn Street..always order their Pad Kapraw with pork and kai down (thai style egg) and boat noodle soup with egg noodles replacing the thin white noodles usually put (my personal preference)...located on 91 Goulburn Street..

There's more places i like such as Kawa cafe on Crown Street in Darlinghurst and many others but too many for me to list here...hahaha..i do like my food/drinks..and so been to quite a few places...anyways, above are a sample..anyone have their own favourite places to recommend in Sydney? Do tell..

As Fate Would Have It...缘分这东西..’縁’ということ

Above: Hong Kong...where the fellow Penangite whom i mention in my little encounter story below is heading to, for a new job and a new life...

Ever wondered whether 'fate' really exists? What makes us keeping bumping into someone, sometimes we know them and sometimes they may be total strangers？I've always believed in what we Chinese call 'Yuan Fen', which can be roughly translated into English as 'Fate'.

I have bumped into people i know sometimes 2-3 times within 3 months on the streets and have heard similar stories from friends of bumping on the streets ppl they seldom keep in touch with or even lost contact for years on the streets...the funny thing is i've even manage to bump into strangers (whom for some reason, i can remember their faces) like 2-3 times on the streets...there's like this girl whom was showing her apartment for lease and after that i managed to bump into her 2-3 times within a month! All in and around the city area...what a coincidence to meet someone randomly 3 times a month heh?

Then there's this person whom advertised his apartment on domain.com.au for lease and I assumed he was from China as most Chinese ppl here are...and then when i arrived i found out he was a fellow Malaysian too!!! Omg! What a coincidence right? A fellow Malaysian in Sydney..there's not that many in Sydney..not that I know of anyway, China,Taiwan,HK,Indonesians,Thais,Koreans, and Japanese make up more of the Asian population than Malaysians I think...that wasn't the only coincidence..I asked which part of Malaysia he was from, and would you believe it? He said Penang too!!! I almost jaw-dropped given that he could have been from any of the 13 states of Malaysia, but he was from my hometown of Penang (ok, so technically he was from the mainland, being Bukit Mertajam, but thats still part of Penang state, right???)!! I was overjoyed given that i never expected to meet a fellow Penangite in these circumstances...what's more, he was very Westernised and had very little Malaysian accent..most of the Penangite ppl i've known in Australia still retain a strong Malaysian-style accent in their English..he's been here 9 yrs, almost a decade...isn't that fate??

He was leaving for a new job in Hong Kong and was leasing his apart out to someone..he must be pretty rich and upmarket given the ability to buy his own apart at such a young age （he's prob in his mid 20s) and that apartment is at one of the most upmarket locations so its v.expensive..and the job in HK definitely means he's from a big firm bckground...he's an architect someone! omg, faint, THE top occupation and MOST IDEAL occupation I've preferred my future husband to have has ALWAYS been an Architect!!! Hahahaha..i'm serious..as these are usually creative types but yet hold solid, well-paid (v.important point!!) publicly respected jobs (unlike artists,advertising executives,etc) and he's from the mainland and I'm from the island, so if we were to get together, it'd be like a Union Across the Straits..hahahaha..jokin lah!! He definitely meets many of my criteria's in a partner though, being relatively wealthy, having been here for over 8 yrs, like me, cosmopolitan, from Penang, having boy-next-door looks ( i cannot imagine living my life with someone with stunning good looks and so am always drawn to those good-behaved clean-cut boy-next-door types,hehehe..)...OMG, what am I saying?!?!!?! Clearly, I'm indulging in silly lil' fantasies over here...and he kept saying 'we', when referring to what 'they' were looking for in a tenant, indicating he lives with someone, and owned the apartment with that person..so given it couldn't be family as he said he goes bck to Penang every yr, (his family must be there then) it is usually a girlfriend..but the thing is I didn't see any female items in the apartment..and i opened the wardrobe, all men's clothes..so who's the 'we'? And the apartment is all decorated like in a 'guy's style' and when we were leaving he bumped into this other Asian guy in a suit and they obviously knew each other as he said to speak to him later..could they be living together and own the apartment together then as friends? But isn't that weird, to buy an apartment with your friend? Or maybe a gay couple?? Hahahaha..possible, given that he definitely lives with a guy (lack of female items evidence..u can always tell if a woman lives in an apartment/house) and you wouldn't buy an apartment with a male friend right? Or would you??

Anywys, that was a fate encounter of mine with a fellow Penang person in Sydney whilst apartment hunting, so...anyone have their own 'fate stories', of how they got to meet friends or even their current girlfriends, wives, husbands, boyfriends,etc?? You know, in those only-in-the-movies type of scenarios??

PS: If he ever stumbled upon this post, he'd definitely know who I am, hahaha..from all my in-detail descriptions...but then again, out of the thousands upon hundreds of blogs and millions of blog posts out there in the blogosphere, if he ever came across this particular one of mine, then we'd be fated to be together, no??? (hahaha..it's a joke k, not serious, but that'd seriously mean we were at least fated to be friends at least right?)

Penang: Foodie's Paradise!!!:-)..... 槟城：马来西亚之美食天堂....ペナン：マレーシヤの美食首都....

Penang is well known for being Malaysia's Culinary Capital. It is the most visited place for domestic tourists and is most well-known for its food. Penang street 'hawker food' is touted as one of the best in South East Asia and Asia. In fact, I grew up being spoiled for choice and being so used to the standard of Penang food that i never understood why Malaysians from other states always praised Penang street food, as i had grown up on this kind type of food and it was normal for me. Nothing particularly 'fantastic' about it. Of Course, now having visited other places in Malaysia such as KL and Melaka, I must say although the food is very good in KL and Melaka as well ( i love Melaka Nyonya Laksa!!) but Penang definitely has much more variety and choices of dishes and culinary delicacies compared to KL or Melaka. So although they each have their own unique dishes as well, Penang simply has more and in much more variety and choices.:-)

Anyways, my favourite Penang hawker food is Penang Curry Mee, Penang Hokkien Mee, Penang Assam Laksa, Mamak Stall Curry Sotong with Rice and other dishes, Char Koay Kak, Fried Beancurd adorned with Chilli sauce, and Chilled Soybean Milk with brown sugar syrup. Hhhmmmm....almost all of this gotten from Penang's most famous hawker centre, Gurney Drive hawker centre and also surrounding areas such as Pulau Tikus Market area and Tanjung Tokong/Bungah Area...I live 5 mins walk to Gurney Drive actually ...hehe..so its actually very convenient for me to eat all the delicious food at the Malaysia-famous Gurney Drive hawker street..hehe....

A food program on Penang 'Street Food'; check it out!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rga7Gx5H2E

Almost feel like going home right now..*salivating*, i really can't get used to the food options in Australia sometimes despite living here for so many yrs actually..i dun know why, maybe i am very biased but i feel Sydney and Melbourne both lack good Asian food and more importantly, good authentic Malaysian food..there's actually plenty of authentic asian food nowadays, just not malaysian, and definitely NOT cheap malaysian food, everything here is soooo freakin expensive when converted bck into ringgit, i mean, how can you even enjoy a meal even if its good when thinking about how not worth it for the price..that applies for everything here actually, everything is not cheap , thus i always do my shopping (most of the time i try to) bck in Asia, cos there's more variety for a cheaper price and of the exact same quality as bck in Australia! Damn, i hate expensive and limited dining choices in Sydney....can't wait to head bck to Asia again..haha..

Happy Merdeka Day, Malaysia!: 52 yrs of Independence...马来西亚独立纪念日52周年。...マレーシヤ独立記念日５２周年...

Today marks Malaysia's 52nd Birthday:-) Actually, in 1957, peninsular Malaysia obtained independence from the United Kingdom but Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysia's East Coast) were not part of that union yet. They remained separately governed (together with Singapore) until 1963 when the Union of Malaysia was formed. So modern Malaysia as we know it now was in fact formed in 1965, when Singapore was removed from the union. (So its not entirely accurate to say that we Malaysians gained independence in 1957!)

I'd recommend everyone to visit Malaysia for a holiday...it's a nice tropical destination to escape for rest and relax...in fact, Malaysia is now one of the world's most visited tourist destination! I checked the statistics, its like in the Top 20 Most visited Tourist Countries. However, it offers a less packed and well known holiday destination compared to neighbouring Thailand which is so well-known and visited already and very packed with tourists. Places recommended would be Penang (my hometown!!!!!) for its World Heritage Site Georgetown of Pre-WW2 enclaves of architecture and splendid Malaysian hawker food (most famous foodie destination within Malaysia and all Malaysians know and visit Penang for its food!!), Langkawi, for its pristine less packed beaches compared to the tourist jammed Phuket and Koh Samui found in Thailand, Melaka for its Straits culinary delights and Nyonya heritage and culture (also a WHS)..Kuala Lumpur for the magnificent Twin Towers one of THE most amazing structures in the world and also for good food in the Klang Valley and Kota Kinabalu in Sabah for the Mount Kinabalu summit and exploration of East Coast Malaysian adventures such as scuba diving (voted by worldwide magazines as one of the most fantastic diving and deep water activity locations in the world for its relatively unspoiled and undiscovered nature) or visit any of the towns and villages along the coast in Sabah and Sarawak for a fun escapade!....

Malaysian Tourism Ad Campaign 2007:

Taiwanese Market Vers.:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef5cHJ2BRNM

Malaysia, Truly Asia Ad Campaign English:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMSBVmyun-w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIwILvyYE4&feature=related

For those wondering whether to visit Singapore or Malaysia, visit both if you can, but if choosing one, definitely skip Singapore, and come to Malaysia! Singapore, despite possessing one of the highest living standards in the world and being the richest n most famous country in the world (yes, Singapore is the richest most well-known country in the world surpassing America, Japan, UK,etc in per capita GDP terms) it isn't a good tourism destination in my opinion, as it has basically nothing to offer in terms of authencity or variety (limited by its sterile environment and small size/population). You can get everything you want in Singapore in Malaysia but even better, cheaper, and way more authentic.

This yr's Malaysia Festival 2009 shall be held again at Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour on 27 September 2009 from 10am to 5pm. So be sure to get there and taste all the lovely food, dance n culture Malaysia has to offer...in Sydney!

Checkout the Official Website: http://www.malaysiafest.com.au/

Below are some photos taken at the Malaysia Fest' 2008 last year:
http://chinesechic.blogspot.com/2008/08/happy-merdeka-51st-birthday-malaysia.html

Winter in Sydney '09 -Royal Botanical Gardens, Bondi-Coogee Beach Coastal Walk, Manly Beach Ferry+ Bavarian Bier Cafe,.. 悉尼冬09..冬のシドニー０９..

There are 3 things and places you must visit whilst in Sydney. I visited all three during this winter which is a good weather to do anything in Sydney as its not too hot in winter to be outdoors and yet during daytime, its not too cold as well as winters in Sydney are very mild.

I've been to these places often and so i shall introduce them to my fellow readers living in Sydney whom may not have gone before or those whom may want to consider visiting them if ever in Sydney.

Below are as follows, in no particular order:

1) Royal Botanical Gardens.

This is quite possibly the best garden and quaint area in the Sydney CBD area which has the best vantage point for taking the backdrop of the Opera House. I love this place as its quite big and tranquil (unlike Hyde Park which is much smaller and always pretty busy with people, although i love Hyde Park too!) and also you can walk along the waterfront with the Sydney Harbour waterfront on one side and the Royal Botanic Gardens on the other side. So you can get both water and land sceneries whilst walking. Also, it has arguably the best vantage point for taking photos of you/friends/relatives with the Sydney Opera House as a backdrop. Its superb and free really! There are two suggested routes. You can either walk from the Wooloomooloo Wharf area with all the high-end restaurants and walk over to the RBG and then follow the path towards the Sydney Opera House exit and then have a nice dinner over at the Rocks or you can walk from the Sydney Opera House entrance, and head towards the Wooloomooloo Wharf area for a nice expensive dinner. Along the way from Sydney Opera House entrance/exit to Wooloomooloo Wharf area, be sure to stop by Mrs Macquarie's Chair as well as the Sydney Conservatorium of Music which are wonderful places to stop by.
Above: View of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House from the Royal Botanical Gardens.

2) Bondi-Coogee Beach Coastal Walk.

This is a good walk to do and a must for all Sydney tourists and residents alike! I did this walk for the first time with my cousin whom visited in August last yr (as i went online to research where to take him, haha, funny how as residents, we may not know so many places to go within your city or town until you need to take someone to visit right??) and loved it...i revisited again one year later this month as well..after one yr, it was still such a great experience with the ocean, and the deep blue sea seemingly like it wasn't Sydney i was in, but some far-away coastal town in Europe...haha..i love this walk..highly recommended...you can stop by Bronte or Tamarama Beach on the way for a cuppa tea or snacks,etc..reaching Coogee, there are an array of restaurants/cafes to choose from for dinner/lunch. Time for Walk: Approx 2. hrs. 6-7km.

Above: Bondi Beach and the Ice-Bergs Restaurant/Bar at Bondi Beach...you can see a guy sun-tanning there..haha...usually that pose is reserved for women but he's doing it too...
Above; Scenery along the way of the coastal walk including interesting architecture and the foodie pic below is Spanish rice with shrimps along with iced-lemon tea along the Coogee beachfront restaurants..

3) Manly Beach Ferry.

Below: Bavarian Bier Cafe Tasting Platter at BBC Manly Branch. Love the German sausages. Tasty!

This is simply one of the best experiences of living in Sydney and a MUST-DO for ALL TOURISTS to Sydney. Its quite a famous experience i believe and many tourists do take the ferry to Manly. Unlike the Bondi-Coogee walk which requires one to walk for 2 hours, the Manly Ferry taken from Circular Quay to Manly Beach only takes 30 minutes one way and you can enjoy the amazing view to and from Manly Beach. It should be taken at dawn around 5pm before sunset so you get a view of Sydney Harbour/CBD during sunlight hours and you arrive at around 5 30pm. One can then wander around and explore Manly Beach and take a walk,etc...have dinner at any of the plentiful restaurants in the area such as thai, japanese, western, brazilian,chinese,etc. and then take the ferry back. By then it would have been dark already after your dinner at Manly and so you can see an AMAZING SIGHT as Sydney Opera House and CBD citylights come into view on your way bck. I love visiting/taking the ferry during winter time as i love the cold wind brushing against my face and body..hehehe..so one should always visit Sydney during winter...i think taking the ferry during summer is just not as nice due to the lack of coldness at night..also you should definitely sit on the deck area on the second level..never sit inside the ferry (theres' a deck outside on 2nd level) as you get a poor view...so always rem to sit outside on deck on 2nd level..

Another nice ferry ride is from Circular Quay to Parramatta along the Parramatta river as this is another unique experience:-)

Anyone have their own suggestions for their favourite or recommended places to visit in Sydney, for residents and tourists alike? Do share; I'd love to know:-)

The 64th Anniversary of the End of WW2: Annual Aug 15th Remembrance Post.終戦６４週年記念...终战64周年記念....

Above: Map of the Largest Extent of Japanese Invasion and Expansion circa 1895-1945.

Today marks the 64th Anniversary of the End of WW2 in Asia and throughout the world. The Pacific War began on July 7th 1937 (some would argue it began with Japan's invasion of northern China in 1931, setting up puppet Manchuria)and ended with Emperor Hirohito's pronouncement of unconditional surrender on August 15th 1945, following the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early Aug.

As in the tradition of my blog since it began way back in '05, I have written a remembrance post on every Aug 15th commemorating that fateful day when the horrific war in Asia ended, leaving millions dead, wounded, raped, and traumatised. It has been always a tremendous interest of mine in researching,archiving, and collecting materials, books, and personal accounts and eyewitness stories of the war in Asia and how the war affected the occupied territories of Asia, which included what is now called modern day Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Burma, East Timor, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and many other nations. Yes, indeed, the Imperial Japanese Forces invaded all the above places, which may surprise many given how little is still known by the general public, even within Asia itself, much less, people residing outside of Asia in Europe, America, or the Middle East and India about WW2 in Asia.

Much attention has focused on China and Korea, whom are great economic powers now and make the most noise about Japan's wartime record, whilst the suffering of people's of other Japanese occupied nations such as Philippines and Vietnam is rarely known outside of those countries. (Yes, i was surprised myself when i started learning about South East Asia under Japanese rule and didn't even realise Vietnam had been occupied by Japan before during the war, or that Japanese atrocities in the Philippines equalled those committed in China...heck, with all the attention given to the Vietcong and the American involvement in the Vietnam War in the 60s/70s, who'd have known about the WW2 period and the Japanese involvement in Vietnam bck in WW2??!! Certainly not me!)

I've been involved in the Demand for Full Japanese Redress and Compensation Movement of sorts since around '05 when i went over to Tokyo for my exchange program. n i first met former Imperial Japanese vets whom spoke about their atrocities in China, and attended even Court Hearings and even a Judgement Hearing (i was lucky! these judgements usually take yrs to hand down, and i happened to be in Tokyo, when i could attend) on WW2 compensation cases in Japan's courts. I have been passionate about this issue since 14 yrs old or thereabouts when i first chanced upon this film starring Chingmy Yau and Veronica Yip Yuk Hing (two of my fav HK stars of the 90s) called 'Hong Kong on Fire 1941'.

Up until then, my image of the Japanese was one of refinement, of upper-class, prim and proper, polite Japanese ladies and mothers and their advanced nation of high-tech stuff, of Japanese being rich and cultured at the same time...this was, after all, the 90s...Japan led the way in Asia even despite the burst of the bubble economy as South Korea and China were still not in the world scene so-to-speak yet...i hadn't known about Japanese wartime atrocities AT ALL since it wasn't taught in schools and in the media, it wasn't such a big issue at the time, well it was, but it wasn't like it was headline news or anything like that..that single movie, changed me. It remains one of my fav movies depicting the Japanese atrocities committed during WW2.

Below: The film which forever changed my impression of the Japanese and where I first learnt about Japan and WW2 atrocities; called 'Hong Kong on Fire 1941'...

Since 2000, much has changed. In 1997, Iris Chang's book on the 'Rape of Nanking' came out, also the first time i heard about Nanking and what occurred there. China made little to no noise over the issue of wartime atrocities and indeed throughout the 80s/90s, it actively sought to restrict and ban any attempts by activists to highlight the issue or publicise compensation demands ( PRC relinquished the right to official compensation from Japan as a gesture of goodwill in 1972 when it re-established diplomatic ties with Japan). However, from 2001, when Koizumi (the Ex-PM of Japan) began his annual high-level official visits to Yasukuni Shrine, China began protesting in a loud manner and since then, the government and the media in China have been highlighting the issue very prominently. In fact, WW2 dramas are prob the MOST popular genre when it comes to war dramas nowadays, and even my mainland Chinese apartment sharemate is watching them now, que all the patriotic scenes of PLA soldiers killing Japanese soldiers and gory scenes of Japanese rampages..i'm glad actually...i mean many commentators say this is propaganda and brain-washing..etc..all that anti-commie crap as usual...i distinctly remember feeling so angry that no one seemed to bother during the 90s including China when the issue of Japanese warcrimes came up...with the strong exception of South Korea,and i NEVER heard people or commentators back then argue about the lack of justice for Asian victims of Japanese atrocity or howl over the Chinese government's ACTIVE PROHIBITION on activists seeking to gain attention to this issue, as it wasn't and still isn't 'convenient' ....and nowadays you get these (mainly western observers) saying these highly condescending and patronising statements like 'China and Japan should just grow up..' 'Korea should stop whining over the colonial issues lest it be viewed as not international enough, jeopardising its aspirations to becoming a first world country' ...' and I'm like 'what total nonsense!!!!!'...imagine what it'd be like if Germany behaved like Japan today, the western world would be up in arms...

I'd just like to ask which part of Chinese textbooks is 'propaganda'?? Is it the mention of rapes of women? The figures stated as killed? The emphasis of Japanese warcrimes?

I don't see any problems with them...Indeed, I never went through ANY education on those topics and yet you find me still feeling very strongly about it...I think people need to understand that this is a very sensitive topic and that if people cannot be sympathetic nor understanding over the issue, they should just BUTT OUT and not contribute pathetic racist patronising comments about how China and Korea and Japan are acting like children, or how Korea is not acting like a first-world power by wallowing in self-victimhood. Cos it is EXACTLY a FIRST WORLD NATION such as Korea or China (whom has many characteristics of a first world major power now) that would make a big fuss about stuff like this...you see, poorer and weaker nations such as Vietnam and Indonesia are not 'more mature', they're simply poorer, and have too many domestic problems to worry about historical issues like this, its only the stronger and richer nations which can afford to call out Japan for its atrocities. So please try and understand that....just like how in richer countries you have 'post-traumatic stress disorder' whereas in poor African nations, you just have to live with it and not worry about how traumas affect you...which doesn't mean its a healthy thing:-)

As for movies made on the WW2 issue in Asia, contrary to popular belief, there's been VERY LITLE made on Japanese atrocities in Asia...many films simply touch on it or its the setup but not the focus, such as Ang Lee's 'Lust, Caution' which dealt very briefly and hinted on Japanese terror during WW2. Two recent Chinese films on Nanking came out this yr, one being 'Nanking! Nanking!' and the other being 'John Rabe', a German-PRC Co-production. Although i lamented on the lack of good well publicised films back in the 80s and 90s on the topic of Japanese invasion/atrocities in Asia...i must say now that despite all the attention that the Rape of Nanking is getting now, all the films made in the past 10 yrs are pretty much crap compared to the ones made during the era when the issue wasn't as prominent!!!

Nanking! Nanking! was highly anticipated and is arguably the most high-profile Chinese film to have been made on the Nanking Massacre in history. It did massively well in the Chinese box-office but i suspect that's bcos there's just been such a lack of films on the Nanking Massacre that mainland Chinese audiences simply bought tickets to watch what was available. 2 stars out of 5. Miss it. It is one of the worst films i've watched on the Nanjing Massacre...despite all the supposedly research done, it was totally historically inaccurate, very much a work of the director's 'imagination' of what happened, totally incoherent storyline to the point of it being more suited as a play than a movie, and having wrong casting decisions putting japanese actors whom look like 21st century actors from tokyo playing 30s rough and rugged japanese soldiers..

The other film, 'John Rabe' fared better, and i'd recommend it if only cos there's no other films on the Nanking Massacre for the past few yrs...it is also quite inaccurate in its portrayals, and miss out huge chunks on atrocities, shying completely away from depicting any rape scenes...

I still think of all the tv dramas and movies on Japanese wartime atrocities, 1 tv drama and 4 films come to mind in terms of what i'd recommend (despite them having some flaws as well).

The tv drama would be Singapore's 'The Price of Peace' in 1997 which dealt with the Japanese invasion and occupation of Singapore 1942-1945. I cried countless times when i saw this on video yrs later..i get very emotional when i see media on this period..i don't know why, but i cry easily on depictions of especially the bombings and raping by the Japanese.

The films i'd recommend would be 1) Aishiteimasu (Mahal Kita) 1941 dealing with the Filipino experience of WW2 which was produced in 2004. 2)屠城血证 A mainland chinese film which was the first Chinese production on the Rape of Nanking bck in 1987. Yes, despite the PRC been found in 1949, no movie was ever made on the Nanking Massacre from 1949-1987! Almost 4 decades! Even with this film, the director reported restrictions from the govt not to portray japanese atrocities such as would 'harm' sino-japanese relations at a time when China was still in deep need of Japanese economic assistance. 3) 南京1937. This Taiwanese-HK coproduction was produced by John Woo and came out in 1995 on the 50th Anniversary of the End of WW2. It is the best film i've seen (so far) on the Nanking Massacre and highly recommended. 4) 香港沦陷1941 HK on Fire 1941. Mentioned above, by Wong Jing in 1994 which is good despite it being essentially a typical 1990s wartime hk sex-ploitation film.

Try to watch any of the above, they're all pretty good..Google for more info on these films...

Don't Cry, Nanking 1937 南京1937 (1995) Extra Review:

I'd like to elaborate more on Don't Cry, Nanking 1937. Which is the No.3 film above...I like this film the best and would DEFINITELY RECOMMEND it for people interested in a fair, unbiased, and most importantly, historically accurate film on what happened during the Nanking Massacre. It takes you on a coherent, dramatic storyline focusing on a Chinese-Japanese family during the Nanking Massacre and gives the proper introduction on the days leading up to the massacre, the bombing of the city, the mass killings, and of course, did a marvellous job of not shying away from depicting one of THE worst MASS RAPE SCENES I've ever scene on film, in a way not tiltillating, but extremely raw and poignantly horrifying. I salute the chinese extras whom were willing to sacrifice their bodies for this historically important film on a historically important event. Compared to Nanking! Nanking! this yr, the actors all looked the part unlike the former, and the Japanese actors looked like they were from 1930s Japan and spoke in such a manner, unlike the former film...the japanese daughter was actually played by a chinese teenage girl judging from her title credits name and the way she spoke japanese was very accurate and she looked just the part, not just a japanese girl of the 90s (the movie was made then) but a japanese girl of 1937!.. and it dealt with possible reasons for the massacre, the inherent racism of the massacre and how soldiers felt they could do anything during war.

Two scenes illustrate (without giving too much away) the above themes perfectly. One scene had the two jap soldiers telling the (very) frightened Japanese wife she wouldn't be so nice to them if they were in Japan in peacetime, would she? It also illustrated perfectly subtly that most soldiers then were from the countryside as it showed them being wowed by the fact that she was a 'woman from tokyo'....

Another scene had a soldier attempting to rape the japanese daughter as they were living in the chinese refugee camp and the wife said 'この子は日本人です、コノ子はニッポン人デス！’(This girl is Japanese! THIS girl is Japanese!) And that showed perfectly how racism was entrenched in that war as the soldier backed off and looked ashamed..cos Japanese girls n women were off-limits and they only raped 'enemy women (chinese women/girls)'..

There's also a reason for the English title 'Don't Cry, Nanking.' which besides being a metaphor for the city of Nanking during those dark days of winter 1937...also has a more literal meaning..its revealed subtly towards the end of the film...but watch the movie, i shouldn't spoil it!..
I liked the opening scene as well, where they show you an empty rail track and the haunting background score, and for almost 20 secs you don't see anyone, and slowly the symbolic Chinese-Japanese family escaping from war-torn Shanghai, of a Chinese father and his son from a previous marriage,and the Japanese wife and her daugther from a previous marriage slowly emerge from the distance, following the railway tracks towards the city of Nanking...all of a sudden, they hear Japanese fighterplanes flying overhead, prob towards bombing the city...she says:
アナタ、南京は本当に安全なの？(Dear, is Nanking safe?)
He replies:
不会有问题的，南京是中国的首都，如果我们连这里也守不住，我们也没有地方可以逃了。(There will be no problem. Nanking is China's Capital. If the Chinese can't even defend this, we'll have no where to run....)

If only they knew...:-(

Links to Entire Movie here (with Eng Subs!, simply click part a,b,c,d, etc in that order to complete film):http://www.tudou.com/playlist/id/6047965/ (But be forewarned, it's extremely heartwrenching to watch!)
Above: I volunteered with Amnesty International NSW on their Comfort Women Butterfly Campaign at the National Rally for Same-Sex Marriage on Aug 1 at Darling Harbour. Kinda a way for me to show support for equal marriage rights for gay and lesbians too; that's what i call killing two birds with one stone! PS: Also participated in their final campaign event in front of Customs House Circular Quay which was quite a success in terms of the no of butterfly signature cards we managed to collect:-)

Previous Posts on WW2 and Asia:
http://chinesechic.blogspot.com/search?q=nanking

Lest We Forget....a moment of silence for the at least 30 million Chinese, Koreans, Malaysians, Singaporeans, Vietnamese, Filipinos, East Timorese, Hong Kongers, Indonesians, Taiwanese, and others as well as the Japanese civilians at home whom perished in that immensely devastating war.

Malaysian Chinese Dramas-I Love Them, The New Fad:-)..马来西亚华语电视剧-我的新潮流最爱....マレーシア中国系のドラマ-新トレンド...

Above and Below: Pics of Kuala Lumpur (KL) skyline and the map of Malaysia. Most Malaysians live in West Malaysia which is also where the big cities and major industrialisation are. The population is one of the rare places in the world where its truly multicultural with a long history of races mixing together, with Malays and Indigenous people making up 60%, Chinese 24%, Indians 7% and the remaining being made up of other races such as Eurasians, Sri Lankans, Portuguese,etc.

I love Malaysian Chinese Dramas! They seem to be a new fad with NTV 7's (a Malaysian channel) collaboration with Mediacorp (a Singaporean channel) in recent yrs becoming increasingly popular. To be sure, Malaysian Chinese dramas were always around by the terrestrial tv stations in Malaysia but they were never really popular with competition from the immensely popular Hong Kong TVB dramas and Taiwanese dramas as well as later on, Mediacorp dramas from Singapore shown on Astro. I first discovered Malaysian Chinese dramas with this drama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raJN5hlvJWU

I was surprised at how good it was! Cos I never watched Malaysian Chinese dramas and always thought they were crappy...i simply didn't believe Malaysian dramas could be any good...boy was i wrong, when i happened to chance upon this late night drama whilst accidentally switching channels one nite and came across this channel during one of the long vacations bck in Malaysia
whilst still a student at Melbourne University. I seldom watch (almost never) the local free-to-air channels like TV 1,2,3, or even NTV7 or Channel 8, but i don't know why i happened to switch to that channel 2 i think and thought it looked pretty interesting..i became hooked and came bck for more every night until the ending...i loved it!!

Then, I forgot all about Malaysian Chinese dramas until early this year when i came upon a clip on youtube and immediately fell in love with it, it's called 'Love is All Around' and the stars were so good-looking!! I loved the Malaysian 'feel' to it and it was nice for a change to watch something local and not Singaporean, HK, Korean, or Taiwanese dramas...i like all the Malaysian Chinese stars like Apple Hong and Melvin Sia and Huang Qiming..its nice to actually have local idols (local means Malaysian for me) instead of the well-known China, HK, Taiwanese (ok, this is local for me too cos i'm half-taiwanese), Singaporean, Japanese, and Korean stars which are popular across Asia.

Anyways, below are some of the dramas I'm currently watching (via Mainland China online video-sharing sites) or will plan to watch once they became available on the super-great mainland Chinese video-sharing sites such as tudou.com or youku.com. :

Age of Glory 情牵南苑 (2008):

This is another mega NTV 7 production, this time set in the 1960s in the cabarets of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (this is Malaysia's capital for those unfamiliar with Malaysia). I love the actress, so pretty again, and the retro feel looks good and interesting but i prob won't be watching this drama cos its too long...like 40 episodes i think?...

Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tMRr-uBbqg

Love is All Around 爱在你左右 (2007):

This drama is soo great...i love apple hong,she's so pretty man...hehe..and Qiming is soo handsome! Makes me SO PROUD to be Malaysian with such good looking people being born in Malaysia..haha..and then there's Melvin Sia and Eunice Ng too! I love them too...i'm still watching it online..i love the theme song, it's sung by the main lead actor whom's also a professional singer...this song is soo romantic..haha..

Links here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTpbVa7TpdQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hG79ITgmLE (main theme song)

Romantic Delicacies 美食厨师男(2009):

This is a new Malaysian Chinese drama, another NTV 7 and Mediacorp collaboration, and i simply love the actors in here!!!! There's my Melvin Sia and also Nick Shen (omg, i fell in love with his handsome good looks when i found out about this Singaporean gay-themed short film called 'Tanjung Rhu' : link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnQZXhlOw7Q which had him in it and couldn't believe he was in this drama..hehe) as well as discovering a new talent for me, her name is Luo Yi Si, and she looks so cute and bubbly..i like her personality from what i can tell from the video links posted up on youtube...well, anyways, shall be looking forward to watching this show when it becomes available online, any Malaysians wanna volunteer and upload the episodes on youtube or a chinese video site?? pretty pretty PLEASE?!! hehehe..

Links:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq4qSrwSJcs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4O0eVbSyh4&NR=1 & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQwWZ615zmQ( I love this chinese version of Agnes Carlsson's original song with the Japanese version in the 2nd half being equally appealing)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kx7lApD1bw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwZ0JHUR6lA&NR=1 （clips of 罗忆诗)

Some good looking Malaysian actors and actresses links:

Debbie Goh of 'Age of Glory':http://lisa717.blogspot.com/2008/05/debbie-goh.html

Malaysian hunks website: http://hotmalaysianhunk.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html

Check out this site!! It has tons of good-looking hunks in the Malaysian entertainment scene...i was googling for this post cos i needed to get some info on actors and chanced upon this site...as usual maintained and patronised by gay men mainly..haha..i've noticed everytime i want to search for cute hunks/actors be it malaysian, or filipino, i always come across sites by and for gay men, come on girls, how come the total lack of straight female bloggers maintaining sites on hunks?? Not that i'm complaining, hehehe..but still..in the interest of fairness and balance, particularly after my feminist rant the post before, i can't help but notice this trend of hunk websites being run by and for gay asian men...hehe..btw, I like Desmond Cheah, Rick Lee and Melvin Sia on the site..anyone have their own favourite male malaysian hunk??

Also, on a side note from Malaysian Chinese Tv dramas, although the Malaysian film industry is still in its infancy, there's one film which has caught my attention for its radical refreshing style, trailer here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX5Jv0Rt9PI

Anyways, hope to have introduced alittle something to my readers on Malaysia and the entertainment industry there...i have found particularly that Malaysian shows which were pretty much crap when i left in 2001 have come a long way and there are many surprisingly good shows whenever i return on TV...unlike the Australian tv and cable industry which is pretty much CRAP unlike our fantastic Astro cable network and NTV 7 and Channel 8, etc...however, the investigative journalism shows are pretty good in Australia like 'Four Corners' which is my perennial fav and also i did like Masterchef Australia and the Oh-Mighty-Poh...she did Malaysians and Malaysian-Australians living in Australia proud with her very Malaysian dishes which she cooked up and i loved the publicity she gave to malaysian dishes in Australia such as in the finale where she cooked Hainan Chicken Rice and Pandan cake....some of the contestants mistakenly thought it was a Chinese cake...which it isn't, mainland Chinese wouldn't even know what Pandan is! It's a South East Asian delicacy/ingredient only found in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore (i think!). Good on her for having the guts to use 'daring' and 'unique' Malaysian creations instead of playing it safe and going down the European/Western/Australian culinary path in her creations...

Anyways, thats' all for now!