Personal Recommendation : Hana Yori Dango ( 1 & 2 )

Yo'...

A few months ago, I stumbled upon a a really great j-drama(japanese drama) while mindlessly surfing the net at like 3 on the morning (I have seasonal insomnia, I think). Well, I was actually surprised to find out that the Japanese version of this previously Taiwanese-produced drama turned out to be as good as it was. This Japanese version came out quite late when compared to the Taiwanese version and there are a lot less episodes (this could be translated as both good and bad news, depends on who you talk to).

The basic storyline's still the same and if you've watched the Taiwanese version before you'll notice that a few important scenes were cut but the Japanese version does make up for it by adding in a few scenes that weren't in the Taiwanese one. I also noticed that the Japanese version follows the manga, "Hana Yori Dango" (Boys Before Flowers) by Kamio Yoko, that inspired this drama a lot more strictly when it comes to a few scenes.

To shed more light on this drama here's the synopsis nicked from drama-wiki (all credits go to them, obviously!) : -

Makino Tsukushi is the only poor student at Eitoku Gakuen, the school of the ridiculously rich and privileged that is ruled by Flower 4 or F4, a group of four boys who come from extremely powerful families: Domyoji Tsukasa, the leader and heir of the Domyoji World Finance Group; Hanazawa Rui, the introverted son of a large company; Nishikado Sojiro, a player who is the heir of a tea ceremony school; and Mimasaka Akira, a madam killer with ties to the underground. If a student gets on the F4’s bad side, he/she gets a red notice and is bullied and driven out of school.
Makino hopes to pass her days quietly-- without drawing any attention to herself-- but one day, she stands up to Domyoji in defense of her friend. The next day, Makino gets the dreaded red notice. Even though she is harassed, Makino decides to keep going to school because she is a “tough weed”. She declares war right back on the F4. Her resolve gets the attention of her crush Hanazawa Rui and oddly enough, rouses romantic feelings in her worst enemy, Domyoji Tsukasa.

Back to my ever important opinion on this drama, well, personally I think I preferred the fact that it had only 10 episodes instead of the 27 episodes that Taiwanese producers cooked up with. But then again maybe I'm saying that because I don't feel like I missed out on anything because I can kind of combine the two series into one and get an almost perfect non-cut series in my head. Hmm... If you're up for it, you should watch both. Bothersome yes, waste of time no.

A Quaint Gathering of my Class From Year 6 Arif (2002,SKDK)

Evening everyone !

Here is one of my old classmates that were in the same class as me while in Year 6 Arif in Sekolah Kebangsaan Danau Kota.

I actually expected a lot more people for this get-together but the others had prior engagements and the rest were working on that day. Sad, I think, to be working on a Sunday, don't you ?

Well, it was still a lot of fun anyways even though at the beginning there was like this really disturbing awkwardness between us, which was soundly broken by much teasing from each and every one of us.

This picture on the left is with my dear friend, and Sapphire group member, Cheryl Khor Seng Hong. After, primary school ended she went to continue her studies at SMK Convent Bukit Nenas (or was it Nanas?). She actually hasn't changed much except that she got a bit taller (by Asian standards, of course).

Aaah, I miss my primary school life. The playfullness(is this a proper word?) and sheer freedom that I experienced in England at Temple Primary School and the more rigid, but not too say strict, teachings that I had at Sekolah Kebangsaan Danau Kota. Good times... *lost in my own world again, now*...