«Korean Drama» Rooftop Prince Review

Original Title: 옥탑방 왕세자 (Ok-tab-bang-eui Wang-se-ja) 
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Episodes: 20

Rooftop Prince Korean Drama

Summary:

When Crown Prince Lee Gak is transported 300 years into the future to present day Seoul along with his three retainers, they believe that it is their duty to solve the murder case of the Crown Princess in order to return to Joseon. They land in the rooftop apartment of Park Ha, a cheerful woman in her mid-20s, who eventually believes the odd quartet's predicament and becomes their guardian. As Park Ha educates the four on life in the 21st century, Lee Gak comes across Hong Se Na, who seems to be the reincarnation of his wife.Taking on the identity of Yong Tae Yong, Lee Gak slowly begins to unravel the murder of Yong Tae Yong and in turn moves closer to solving the murder case of the Crown Princess. As he finds himself in love with Park Ha, he figures that maybe the Crown Princess was not so perfect after all... Source: http://www.viki.com/

Main Casts:

Micky Yoochun (Park Yoochun) - Lee Gak / Yong Tae Yong / Terrence Yong
Choi Won Hong - young Lee Gak
Han Ji Min - Park Ha / Bu Yong
Jun Min Seo - young Park Ha / young Bu Yong
Lee Tae Sung - Yong Tae Mu / Tommy Yong
Jung Yoo Mi - Hong Se Na / Hwa Yong
Kim So Hyun - young Se Na / young Hwa Yong

Rooftop Prince Review:

It's very rare for me to make reviews with Korean Dramas. I usually watched them in television but since lately I seldom did (because of pressures from work), I only had chance to watch them online if I had spare time.

Honestly speaking, I would never had the interest to watch it if not of my sister. She said that this drama was so hilarious that I "must" watch it, haha. It's more like a command than recommendation though. It flickered interest in me, and just last night I decided to watch it.

I'm way too far halfway but the first few episodes are more than enough to set my mind to watch it all the way no matter how long it will take☺. And I never, even a bit, did regret watching it despite the fact that I got horrible eye bags in my face. I also yawned always, almost every hour at my work. Nonetheless, it was nothing to me. What's more important is I have to finish watching it.

The story is a comedy-romance mixed with action and mystery. But, what's more to look forward is the development between the main characters from different "period of time" specifically 300 years difference. The way they are culture-shocked and behaving in the modern world was so hilarious and damn funny. The scenes where they look so silly and stupid and like idiots are making me laugh hard enough to the point that I actually cried. Oh, I still can remember by now their ridiculous expressions as they encountered "strange things" that aren't even there in their period. Indeed, that confused them but thanks to their guardian they were able to gradually cope-up to the modern world...

Let's talk about the characters. I know it's still too early to judge them as I am still in the first few episodes so just let me make an assessment with my first impressions to them.

First with the Crown Prince Lee Gak. Just like the usual Crown Prince I normally saw in TV (only in TV as I haven't actually known someone since I am living here in a democratic country, duh ^_^), it's inevitable that they are pompous, arrogant and conceited. Well, at least not to all the Prince in the movie. Despite those downsides which make his character more enthralling, he is also kind, wise and intelligent. On the other side, Tae Yong (Terrence Yong) who resembles the Prince is— okay, I have to watch more episodes to tell what type of person he is though I'm certain he's rather happy-go-lucky kind of guy as far as I can tell by now, haha. 

Park Ha. She is definitely pretty, cheerful and kind and living a quiet normal life despite the hardships and troubles she had. I believe she is the reincarnation of Bu Yong (the girl with the scar on her face) who could possibly win as the Crown Princess if not of her older sister. Pak Ha is a small store vendor who lived at the rooftop where the 4 historical people☺ suddenly appeared by chance. Since that day forward, her life has changed and turned upside down— between the past and the future. 

Tae Mu. Tae Mu's smart and ruthless as they say, or as you see. He's jealousy towards Tae Yong's corporate position and the fact that he is not blood-related to Tae Yong's grandmother (which happens to be the CEO of the company he's working at) is consuming him. He'll do anything to get what he wants. He is also Se Na's secret lover. 

Se Na. She's an annoying yet beautiful villain. Her fashion style is outstanding as much as her hairstyle (is it the bubbly style? Anyway, she looks so gorgeous with that style though). Physical beauty is not the only thing to consider though. She's ambitious, scheming and impolite and intelligent as well. She's working as a secretary in Tae Yong's company. She holds grudges towards Park Ha (that I don't know why and where did it all started). In the past life, she's the cunning Crown Princess who was killed by i-dunno-whoever-he-is and left in the river floating aback.

 The 3 entourage; Song Man-bo, Wu Yong-sul and Do Chi-san. The comedy is not complete without these hilarious followers of the Prince. They pull-off jokes naturally even with their serious faces on. Their ignorance, together with the Prince, are simply epic! hahaha... Really, I love them so much... I do not know if I will enjoy the show without them.

That's it! I guess I'm going to make an episode by episode review on this drama as I do really like it so much ^_^. For those who haven't watch it yet, be sure you do...

A dosage of drama and comedy. Watch the trailer...!

You can watch the whole episode HERE... Just to warn you that some of the subtitles are annoyingly rumbled it doesn't go with the right words. Nevertheless, you can use your common sense though.

Categories: Movie Review, TV Series

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«Movie Review» Chinese Zodiac: Jackie Chan's Last Action Movie

Due to my reckless decision together with a friend of mine, we ended up watching Chinese Zodiac (CZ12) of Jackie Chan on its first day of showing. Reportedly, it turned out to be his last major action-adventure movie. Chinese Zodiac was written, directed, produced and starred by Jacke Chan himself.

Chinese Zodiac was shown here in Philippines yesterday, January 30, 2013 and fortunately, we were able to witnessed Jackie Chan's last grandest action film he has ever made. It was shot in 8 countries and 5 continents around the world! Whoah! If that is something more to be proud of.

“I want to let the audience know that this is my last big action movie. I don’t like to die on the set. I want to continue filming,” said Jackie. “Maybe on my next movie, I don’t have to roll over, jump over the building, or jump off the car. I want to try drama or be casted in a love story” source: http://bidakapamilya.blogspot.com

So to clear things up, this is not gonna be his final casting in the movie. That's right! Glad to hear that! He should maim himself away from action movies as he is really getting older. He must have some self-pity for his body. Poor rich guy☺

Chinese Zodiac Main Casts:

• Jackie Chan as JC aka "Asian Hawk"
• Kwon Sang-woo as Simon
• Liao Fan as David
• Yao Xing Tong as Coco
• Zhang Lan Xin as Bonnie
• Laura Weissbecker as Katherine
• Jonathan Lee as Jonathan Lee

Jackie Chan with the 3 gorgeous ladies Laura, Yao Xing and Zhang Lan

Chinese Zodiac Story:

Chinese Zodiac tells the story about JC's (aka Asian Hawk) struggles and adventures along  with his team to hunt the historical relics who thought to be disappeared a long time ago. On their way to their quest, they meet Coco, an activist student in Paris and Katherine, an heiress who is searching for her long lost great grandfather. Thus, the hunting began— flaunting numerous deadly stunts, rolling around the mountain road with a full body wheeled suit, battling against pirates(I guess?) in the forest, and the breathtaking aerial fighting scenes over the blazing volcano! Surely, there are quiet several awesome fighting scenes you will definitely have to look forward to.

Chinese Zodiac Review

Just like Jackie's old styles, this movie has touted to be a full action film packed with deadly stunts and innovative fighting scenes, mixed up with a little— okay several humors set to entertain audiences... not just to terrify them with awe due to his seemingly impossible stunts that even a young lad couldn't possibly get to pulled off. Perhaps, we all knew how he carried out his stance.

This movie, despite all the criticisms gained from different views of spectators, was undeniably one of the greatest movie Jackie has to offer. It's also a combination of comedy and adventure which will definitely make you laugh every time they pulled a very hilarious scenes, not a trying-hard-joke but still very funny. I really like Katherine. She's very crazy, haha! However, the storyline was somehow vague mixed up with multilingual plot.

For those who are expecting for a "more extreme" action and fighting scenes, then you will likely never be disappointed. Perhaps, that is where Jackie has ever known for, being a multi-awarded action star.

*** Rating: 7.5/10 ***

Watch Chinese Zodiac's Trailer in HD

Watched on: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 @ 9:30PM at Cinema 3 Gaisano Mall of Davao.

Categories: Movie Review, Movies

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«Movie Review» Life of Pi: A Journey of a Lifetime

I saw the trailer of Life of Pi last year when I watched a movie back then. I was held captive by the excellent visual effects shown in the trailer and got quite excited when I discovered that he'll trail an audacious epic journey amidst the ocean with a — tiger? How dangerous and exciting it can be! Right there and then, I made a promise to myself that I'll definitely watch it for sure. It was supposed to be shown last year but was delayed due to some reasons I don't know. And finally, last night was the realization of that promise. 

Together with my friends, we took the Last Full Show of Life of Pi in 3D. There were quite plenty of people watching the movie. 

Life of Pi Review:

 

1. Story: 3.8/5

The story focuses on Piscine Patel (Pi in short)'s adventures and struggles after the ship sank, leaving him nothing but a tiger as his companion hiding inside the lifeboat. At first there were 4 animals, but the damn hyena killed the two so thanks to Richard Parker (tiger) for killing the damn pest...

It also gave emphasis to religion. Pi, who had 3 religions (Hindu, Catholic and Islam), believed God in every aspect of life in any form of religion. As he continued his journey, instead of losing hope, he even lifted his hope to God and sooner realized that he wasn't really forsaken by Him.

He said in the movie that at times when he felt he was forsaken by God for not finding any help within those days he was in the middle of the ocean, He had never really abandoned him. A living proof was Richard, a tiger who gave him the reason to live. He fed him and even able to tame him. When he found an island, he thought he was now safe, at least he could manage to eat seaweeds there. Sooner enough, he found out that the island is no safe for them. The rest is history. I do not intend to spoil the movie so you better watch it, right (read summary here).

2. Setting: 4/5

The movie was set in India, of course. The environment is not the usual place I had in mind based on the other Indian movie I'd seen before. The place presented and shown in the movie is like a quiet, peaceful area, very different and opposite to the other. The ocean had a big impact in the settings too. Though there's nothing much to see above sea level as there you can only see the sky and the seemingly endless ocean, the film had able to convey the true wonders and beauty of the marine lives, IF all those sea creatures were real.

3. Visual Effects: 5/5

There's no question this film got a perfect score for visual effects. Well, as for me, of course ^_^. The visual effects of the movie were simply breathtaking, awesome and splendid and the 3D effect is a plus factor that will make you appreciate the movie's visual effects even more.

Speaking of surreal, this one shows it all.

All in all, the movie is pretty good and I recommend everyone to watch it... Though there is one thing I could hardly understand in the movie... That is how they speak. I just can't understand it well. 

Screenshots were taken from youtube's trailer!

Watch the trailer of Life of Pi in HD...

  

Watched on: Thursday, January 16, 2013 @ 9:30PM at Cinema 13D Gaisano Mall of Davao

Categories: Movie Review, Movies

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SushiDito Davao: A Taste of Japanese Cuisine

Before 2012 ended, I never thought I would get a chance to eat in a Japanese Restaurant that time. Well, I adored Japanese cuisines especially on how they presented them but didn't have any idea on how it all tasted like. 

Due to some pressures and hassles in work, our Boss decided to treat us in the nearby restaurant to relieve us from stress and randomly picked SushiDito Davao. 

SushiDito Davao (Sushi "Here" Davao) serves a variety of delightful and pleasantly made Japanese food cuisines. Their main specialties are Dragons, Makis, Nigiris, Rice Bowls, Ramen Bowls and some other Japanese recipes. The area isn't that big and there's only limited space for parking area but don't fret because you can order online through their website and they deliver right in front of your doorstep for FREE! Great, isn't it? 

These were some of our orders. Had I known 8pcs would be more than enough (because they looked really small) then I should have ordered 4pcs, haha.

SushiDito Davao's Rainbow Roll (Salmon, Tuna, Kanikama, Mango, Cucumber) - Php 220 for 8pcs

Mango Avocado Maki (Mango, Tamago, Avocado) - Php 140 for 8pcs

Good thing my office mate was ordering different maki and so we shared them together with my ordered... The taste was really good. The rice something was so sticky, delicate and sweet and the fresh salmon is superb! I never thought I would come to like fresh servings except "kinilaw"☺. I didn't yet mention that it was my first time to use chopsticks too and it was so troublesome! The meat had almost flown out of the plate! If that really happened (glad it didn't), I might really use fork and spoon and I wouldn't care any less. But my struggles and perseverance had made it through and I finally managed to use chopsticks, yay! It was fun though and we enjoyed the abrupt dinner that night. Arigato to my Boss!☺

SushiDito Davao 

Quirino Ave, Davao City, Philippines

Email: sushidito@yahoo.com | admin@sushidito.com |  orders@sushidito.com

Telephone #: 082 295 3333

Mobile #: 09328552555

Website: http://www.sushidito.com/ 

Open: Monday (10:30AM - 02:30PM) to Saturday (04:30PM - 10:30PM) 

Some of their Menu:

Categories: Japanese Restaurant, Restaurants

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Adding Star Ratings in Blogger using Graddit

Many people might be wondering if adding star ratings in their blogs could be possible. Well, the answer is simply "yes". Then the next question "How?" will follow. For those HTML adept individuals, this question may be too easy to implement within a minute but, for those who don't have enough skills and knowledge, this could be certainly difficult to handle.

Blogger, unlike WordPress, is way too complicated to handle and integrate features. No plug-ins with very limited widgets yet, one of the simpliest and easy-to-manage blogging platforms. Plus, it's owned by Google.

Back to where we are, why do we need this so called "Ratings"? Well, it's not that much important but this will definitely adds flavor to your website/blog. This will also determine how your readers likely enjoy your posts.

Below are the steps to add 5-star ratings to your posts:

1. First, you need to grab the code from www.graddit.com. Choose from the different styles that will suit your taste. In the Platform Tab, choose Blogger.

graddit.com

2. Then, go to Blogger and change the template's code. But before that, you have to back-up your template first before editing any code lines. To do so, go to Blogger » Template » Back-up/Restore » Download Full Template. After that, go to Edit HTML » Click Expand Widget Templates.

3. Find (Ctrl + F) the code </head> and paste the below code[1] right "above" it for the CSS styles. 

Code[1]:
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="http://static.graddit.com/css/graddit.css"/>

4. Find the code <data:post.body/> and copy the code[2] depending on where you want to place the rating. Remember that if you have multiple <data:post.body/> especially when you're using magazine template, you will find several of these codes. Try them out one by one until you get the desired result.

Note #1: If you want to place the rating below post title, write it "above" <data:post.body/> or put it "below" the code if you want to place it at the bottom of the post.

Note #2: If you want to show the ratings "only" in the posts pages and "not" in homepage, change the code:
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;static_page&quot;'>
to
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>

Code[2]:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;static_page&quot;'>
<div expr:id='"labels_" + data:post.id' style='display: none; visibility: hidden;'>
<b:if cond='data:post.labels'>
<b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'>
<data:label.name/>,</b:loop></b:if></div>Rate this posting: <div expr:id='data:post.id' class='ffbs_rate'>{[[&#39;&lt;img src=&quot;http://img.graddit.com/img/ice_star.png&quot;/&gt;&#39;, &#39;&lt;img src=&quot;http://img.graddit.com/img/red_star.png&quot;/&gt;&#39;]]}</div>
<div expr:id='&quot;feedback_&quot; + data:post.id' class='ffbs_feedback'>{[&quot;Useless&quot;, &quot;Boring&quot;, &quot;Need more details&quot;, &quot;Perfect&quot;]}</div>
<div expr:id='&quot;ffbs_stats_&quot; + data:post.id' class='ffbs_stats'></div>
<script type='text/javascript' expr:src='&quot;http://graddit.com/rate/eng/5/&quot; + data:post.id + &quot;?id=&quot; + data:post.id + &quot;&amp;stats=ffbs_stats_&quot; + data:post.id + &quot;&amp;&amp;feedback=feedback_&quot; + data:post.id + &quot;&amp;labels=labels_&quot; + data:post.id + &quot;&amp;info=info-&quot; + data:post.id + &quot;&amp;info_delay=2&amp;url=&quot; + data:post.url + &quot;&amp;class_star=ffbs_star_fimg&amp;class_star_set=ffbs_star_fimg&amp;class_star_vote=ffbs_star_fimg&amp;average=yes&amp;views=yes&amp;votes=yes&quot;'></script></b:if>

5. That's it! You're done!

Sample star rating in blogger.
source:  Random Stuff Online

Happy Ratings☺

Categories: Tutorials

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Mana Davao Christmas Display 2012

A colorful Christmas Display at Mana Davao City.
Photo courtesy to: silaab dabaw

It was a bit too late to visit the place (well, it's better than not seeing it at all) since I initially planned to go there before 25th of December with my friends/co-workers. One of the reasons was that the lightings encountered short circuits and mostly, if not all, shut off. Few days later, they're back to normal and running again.

As usual, the area was crowded, noisy and full of laughter. The colorful lights around the area were so enticing, even the passersby couldn't help but to set their eyes on it. Road traffic was also a pain in the ass but good thing there were traffic enforcers taking care over the issue. We didn't waste a single minute and took pictures immediately.

Mana Davao Christmas Display

After taking some pictures on the background, we went to our next target, the Mascots! Yeah, it's not just purely for display. It was made for fun too especially to the kids who would surely enjoy the mascots more than we did. There were several mascots to have pictures with like tiger, monkey, chicken, polar bear, frog (which I like the most, haha) and mouse. Unluckily for us, we didn't get the chance to take pictures with all of them 'coz they were abducted and taken away from their spectators. They said it's their "feeding time". LOL.

Taking pictures with the mascots :)

It was another fun escape from the usual corporate environment which will only happen every end of the year. I am glad that although the city is not as noisy as the other during December due to Davao City's Firecracker Ordinance, they still have initiative to convey to people the feeling of Christmas.

Categories: Davao City, Holidays and Occasions

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