Saturday 31 October 2020

When Sun Meets Moon

October 31, 2020 19 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! Happy weekend~ Here is another review for you and this time it is a Hong Kong movie!





Title : When Sun Meets Moon
Runtime : 95 minutes
Genre : Youth, Romance
Country / Language : Hong Kong / Cantonese
Released year : 2018
Director : Benny Lau
Writer : Benny Lau, Pui Yin Wong
Cast : Daichi Harashima, Kathy Yuen
Plot : 

A heavy rainstorm in 1992 has caused a massive power outage in Hong Kong. During the night, two teenagers sneaked out of their house and went stargazing. Moon(Kathy Yuen) and Sun(Daichi Harashima) soon became familiar with each other and slowly fall in love. Sun was sent to a boarding school for a year before he leave to America, just like his father's plan. Just like the moon and the sun, they hardly see one another especially when Moon's mother was against their relationship. Time passed and it was time for Sun to move.
SPOILER ALERT

A light binge watch for the weekend. It's been so long since I last watch a youth movie and this really had me hooked. The overall plot can be seen as two teenagers trying to work on their relationship despite their parents oppositions. 

I really love their cute little communication when Sun was sent to the boarding school. With only weekend for his free time, they can't see each other like always, especially when the school was a little far from their tiny town. At first, they didn't have a form of communication but when Moon went to the school to see him, they begin to wrote letters to each other, even though it is against the school rule. I love how Moon had Uncle Ming (a bookstore owner where Moon works at) to cover for her and Sun had his homeroom teacher and also the garderner, Ghost to help him.

Another challenge to them was when it comes to Sun's move to America. Moon was ghosted by her mother that he will leave and forget about her once he moved and she would suffers alone. Even the supportive Uncle Ming would constantly reminded her that he would leave and their long distance relationship wouldn't work. Despite that, she put faith on him and took the chance.

I love how there will be constant mention of the stars even though it was not really informative. It kind of became their things together. Sun even bought a star and named it 'Sun Moon Star' (or was it Moon Sun Star?) in respect of their name. 

Overall, this is a great little movie for relaxing and even though it seems a little boring at first but the pace pick up gradually. 




For more movie reviews, please visit 'Movie Reviews' on the menu tab !

-thes

Friday 30 October 2020

The Target

October 30, 2020 6 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! I am back with another movie review and this is another South Korean movie, tho, a remake from French movie.


Title : The Target
Runtime : 98 minutes
Genre : Crime, Action, Thriller
Country / Language : South Korea / Korean
Released year : 2014
Director : Chang
Writer : Jun Chul Hong
Cast : Ryu Seung Ryong, Lee Jin Wook
Plot : 

Yeo Hoon is an ex-soldier. One night, while getting pay for his brother, Sung Hoon, he encounter a murder scene. He went on run when the murderer tried to kill him. Yeo Hoon then met a car accident while trying to get away. He was sent to a hospital where Tae Joon worked. After a long hours, Tae Joon came home and was knocked out. He receives a phone call who demanded him to bring Yeo Hoon out of hospital if he wanted his wife safe and alive.
This film is a remake to a French film, 'Point Blank' directed by Fred Cavaye.

SPOILER ALERT

This movie is insane! I am not sure how the French (original) version works but this version was very thrilling and filled with action scenes much to my delight. Even the beginning was so surprising seeing Yeo Hoon chased by unknown man for unknown reason. 

I think it was a bit direct plot. It was expected that Yeo Hoon was framed to be the murderer for the building owner. Maybe a little twist with the Tae Joon's wife kidnapper. At first, I thought the people who wanted to kill Yeo Hoon was the one who kidnapped Tae Joon's wife but it wasn't. Yeo Hoon's younger brother was the one who kidnap her and asked Tae Joon to bring his brother out of hospital.

I was really curious of the killer identity and motives because it was rarely mentioned. When the truth came out, I was really shocked, especially when they finally had the female detective on their side only to lose it again. The truth was so crazy to even think about. How can they be so cruel and use their title for a disgusting benefit? 

Besides the craziness of the actions and tensions, there were some scenes that made me a little emotional. I can't believe that they( the killers) really kill Yeo Hoon's brother and left him like a trash. What a cruel human being. Oh, they don't even qualified to be called human. And that time when the truth came out, the female detective was shot to death with no mercy, and no warning. Everything happened so fast that I am stunned!

The ending was good and I am really glad that Yeo Hoon had a new family to turn to. Even if he lost his brother, he gained a new family with Tae Joon. The 98 minutes feels so fast with this movie.




For more movie reviews, please visit 'Movie Reviews' on the menu tab !

-thes

The Legend Of The Blue Sea

October 30, 2020 10 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! Last week was a bit hectic for me and I got no time to finish the drama and wrote the review. Hence, here it is now.


Title : The Legend Of The Blue Sea
Episodes : 20
Genre : Fantasy, Romance, Drama
Director : Jin Hyuk
Writer : Park Ji Eun
Network : SBS
Cast : Lee Min Ho, Jeon Ji Hyun
Plot : 

Heo Jun Jae is a conman. He works with Jo Nam Doo and Tae Oh. After a big success of another project, he took a rest and went abroad and stay at an oceanside resort. Due to a big tidal wave, a nameless mermaid was stuck at the resort where Jun Jae stayed at. She then broke into his resort and eat his food. Realizing this situation, Jun Jae called the local police station and have her captured. However, her jade bracelet caught his attention. Upon knowing the value of the bracelet, he went to police station and released her. After spending a day together, he took the bracelet and leave her in a mall. Feeling guilty for not saying goodbye, he went for her and took her in for a day. Getting caught by the people he conned, they escape to the ocean where then they came to the end of cliff. The mermaid then pulled Jun Jae to the ocean and erased his memory. Jun Jae went back to Seoul with no memory of her while the mermaid swam for three months to Seoul to meet Jun Jae again.

SPOILER ALERT

2016 was such a win for k-drama lovers because there was so many good dramas! This drama was no exception. This drama was so balanced between the light-ness and heavy-ness. There was comical scenes at the beginning because of how unfamiliar all things is to the mermaid who then named as Sim Cheong. 

The plot was so flow-y and well directed. I especially love the relation with the past lives of the present character. It was so sad to think that every ill-fated past will haunted them to the present. Sung Dong Il was given a villain character, Ma Dae Yong in this drama and he was so good at it. Even though there wasn't a scene of him being cruel, but he make it up with his expression and tone. It was a struggle for Jun Jae for not letting the history to repeat itself.

Heo Jun Jae's family conflict definitely an added spice to this drama. Especially when his step-mother is related to Ma Dae Yong. I was confused of Heo Chi Hyun's real side. He seems nice but then he turned a blind eye for his mother. He is just another sick character. I was so frustrated whenever Jun Jae almost met his mother. It really irked me whenever they just passed one another without knowing. She was closer than he thought.

With a cameo by big names such as Jo Jung Suk, Jung Yoo Mi, Krystal, Cha Tae Hyun and Ahn Jae Hong really made this drama stood out. I love those episode with Jo Jung Suk. He was a merman who's with a limited time after his love married to someone else. He taught Sim Cheong how to live in the land and all. 

Another reason why this drama was so successful was the OSTs. I really can't chose a favorite with this drama. The one sung by Yoon Mirae was good and so is the sung by Lyn and Sung Si Kyung. And like I said, 2016 is a win for k-drama lovers. Great dramas, great OSTs, what else could we asked for.

For more k-drama reviews, please visit 'K-drama review' on the menu tab !

-thes

Thursday 29 October 2020

Thoughtless Thursday #033

October 29, 2020 8 Comments

 Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! It's been long since my last entry of this segment. Wow, I feel a little embarrassed with all the ranting in the last #TT. It took me a little over one week to get over that rejection and now I am fine. I've been wanting to share this news ever since the last week but things got a little hectic so, yeah.

On 19th Oct, the result for UPU second phase was out. Being real, I don't even expecting anything and I actually don't even remember that day. But then, one of my friend contact me, asking did I get through or not. Being confused, I asked him what was he talking of then he explained that it was the day for the UPU result. When I checked, I was so shocked to even believe my eyes. I even doubt that there was some technical issues so I keep the result to myself. When I checked it again later that night, I was really got in!

source: pinterest

I got in IIUM for the session 2020/2021 and I have successfully online registered myself, last week. Oh, as the university requirement, I sat for my English Placement Test (EPT) and Arabic Placement Test (APT) last week and this Monday respectively. One thing that I can conclude is, online test is a headache. I'm praying to get through this semester just fine. Oh the result are expected to be out tomorrow.

At this opportunity, I wanted to give a massive thanks to those who reached out to me during my rant and breakdown. Thank you for the kind words you guys gave me, they really comfort me. Thank you so much! I hope this situation would eventually get better so that we can all get back to the lives we used to. Let's take care of ourselves and stay safe everyone! Oh, Salam maulidurasul semua!

source: pinterest

source: pinterest

p/s: I'm not sure how my schedule will be but let's hope that I would still find time to blogging and all.

with me,
-thes

Tuesday 27 October 2020

Kecubung by Rosa Nur

October 27, 2020 6 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest ! Aku sendiri tak faham kenapa aku setkan schedule post untuk draft yang dah siap ditaip... Anyway, ni dia review novel melayu.


Tajuk : Kecubung
Penulis : Rosa Nur
Mukasurat : 595 pages
Penerbit : Karyaseni
Terbitan : Disember 2019
ISBN : 9789674691509
Blurb : 

Wajahnya cantik tetapi seperti pokok kecubung yang indah bunganya, dia memabukkan serta beracun. Di dalam dirinya mengalir dendam yang sarat dan perlu dibalas. Dia tidak akan puas selagi orang-oarang yang memperkotak-katikkan maruah dan menghitamkan kehidupannya masih lepas bebas di luar sana.

"Kurang ajar! Kau orang ingat aku barang yang kau pecahkan kat pasar raya ke, yang dapat kau tebus dengan membayar ganti rugi?!"

Siapakah sebenarnya perempuan yang sarat dengan dendam itu? Dan kenapakah dia menjadi seorang pendendam?
Sementara itu, peristiwa 5 tahun lepas...

"Siapa nama kau, hah? Kau cantiklah!" - EDDY HAKIMI
"Memang cantiklah perempuan ni, Eddy. Anugerah dari Tuhan untuk kita berempat kut?" - FARHAN
Kejar perempuan tu. Jangan bagi dia lepas!" - EDDY HAKIMI

Bencana menanti 4 jahanam yang tega menghancurkan hidup seorang gadis yang menghidap penyakit kemurungan. Dalam diam, dia dan sekutunya mula mengatur strategi. Siapakah sekutu gadis sarat dendam ini?

Orang-orang yang tidak bersalah telah dijadikan umpan untuk memerangkap 4 jahanam. Adilkah begitu? Setelah 5 tahun berlalu dan masing-masing mempunyai kehidupannya sendiri...

"5 tahun lepas, apakah dosa dan kejahatan yang pernah Ray lakukan?" - DARLINA

"Apa jenis soalan yang Darling tanya ni? Ada ke orang dalam dunia ni yang nak mengaku dosa-dosa yang dia dah lakukan? Kita mengaku dengan Tuhan aje tau segala dosa yang kita buat, bukannya mengaku depan orang lain. Itu umpama membuka aib sendiri!" - RAYKAL REDZA

Siapakah Darlina? Siapakah gadis yang berdendam itu? Dan siapakah Raykal Redza di dalam novel ini? Apakah dosa dan kejahatan yang telah dilakukan sehingga si gadis sanggup membunuh? Hayatilah jalan cerita yang penuh konflik dan saspens di dalam novel KECUBUNG karya ROSA NUR.
Okay, I personally think that this one is better than Psiko. Plot dia memang menarik perhatian betul. Masih lagi dalam topik dendam, macam plot novel Psiko, tapi yang ni aku faham lebih sikit. Cuma, watak Amna ni ada depression so dia punya tindakan tu tak macam orang yang menghidap depression. Or maybe I am wrong for stereotyping. Cuma itula, sekutu Amna ni pun kenapa tak buat report sebab first, depa sihat and paling penting ada saksi kot. Aduhai geram pulak bila fikir depa boleh setuju gitu aje dengan rancangan Amna.

Permulaan novel agak confusing sebab banyak sangat watak yang diperkenalkan sekali gus. My brain kenot handle that. Lepas tu, banyak kali berlaku perubahan masa dan tempat yang aku tak sedar. Baca punya baca eh rupanya kisah silam. Baca lagi jauh, oh dah back to present time. Poning den. Kisah silam tu necessary lah untuk diceritakan tapi macam tak de warning langsung. So yeah, very confusing at first.

Plot memang saspen lagi-lagi bila watak Darlina ni suspicious. Dari gaya dia melayan si Ray, macam dia suka lepas tu dok main tarik tali bagai tapi bila ada masa dia seolah-olah benci sangat dengan Ray. Tambah pula bila Darlina ni ada abang membuatkan aku terfikir yang sebenarnya Darlina is Amna yang menyamar. But girl, it wasn't as simple as that !

Watak yang menjadi target ada empat orang, and that still ada aura 'Psiko' lagi-lagi dengan gaya nama watak. Dua orang ada dua patah nama and the other two got one. Belum ada kepelbagaian pada nama mangsa. Agak tak seronok bila cerita banyak fokus pada Ray, Eddy dengan Azam je. Watak Farhan tak banyak diceritakan melainkan dia ada tunang dan akan kahwin hujung tahun. Babak dia dengan tunang pun sekali dua aje dimention. Watak paling menyampah? Ray la. Dasar lelaki tak reti setia. Hish menyampah kita.

Menarik bila penulis kaitkan tajuk novel dengan cara Amna nak hapuskan orang yang dia berdendam. Kecubung, pokok beracun. Sifat pokok ni pun boleh juga kalau kita kaitkan dengan Darlina, perempuan yang cantik tapi bahaya. Sama jugak dengan Amna. Cantik, tapi beracun membunuh!

Ending dia, memang aku tak sangka. At least, dalam ramai-ramai sekutu, ada jugalah yang masih ada kesedaran. Walaupun ada nyawa yang terkorban, tetap ada justice untuk mereka. Watak Ray pun terima padah. Paling puas kot apa yang dia terima tu. Padan muka. Tapi satu yang aku persoalkan, kenapa Darlina tiba-tiba jadi macam tu? Hm. Sebab dia terlalu sedih ? Ke apa. Walhal dia patut gembira. Hm, ke tak? Takpelah, taknak fikir.

-thes

Saturday 24 October 2020

K-Food Fair With Shopee !

October 24, 2020 4 Comments
 Assalamualaikum, good day dearest ! So, I have successfully joined Shoppe affiliate marketing program  (joined awhile back) and now I wanted to start promoting!


This k-food fair will be held from 23 Oct 2020 until 12 Nov 2020. 

With seven featured shops, we can buy as many food products as we want all and receive them quickly ! With the offered shop vouchers, we can save more! Do not forget to redeem the vouchers tho.

K-food fair collection includes:


Are you a noodle lover? Or you loves samyang? Well, then here is the place where you can get all types of korean (instant) noodle that you wanted! Oh, k-drama lovers must be dying to try the rapokki so here is your chance !


Do you prefer to cook? Have you been looking for the gochujang paste? Here is your chance to finally buy one!


Do you ever wanted to try those delicious looking beverages in k-drama? Are you looking for new beverages to try? Well, here you go!


Are you a munching-type of person ? Do you always have a need to snack on something anytime, anywhere? Come and get a new snack here!

So, what are you waiting for? Click on the poster above to shop for k-food and happy shopping!

p/s: for muslim,please always checked for the halal certification before making any purchases

-thes



Sunday 18 October 2020

Friday 16 October 2020

Money Game

October 16, 2020 12 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! Here up another k-drama review. 

poster credited to the owner

Title : Money Game
Episodes : 16
Genre : Finance, Drama
Director : Kim Sang Ho
Writer : Lee Young Mi
Network : tvN
Cast : Go Soo, Shim Eun Kyung, Lee Sung Min
Plot : 

Jungin Bank, a bank that the Korean government holds equity in is on the verge of bankruptcy. The people were worried that they will face another financial crisis similar to what happened back in 1997. Chae Yi Hun is a chief in the Economic Policy Bureau at Financial Services Commission (FSC). His father, Prof.Chae Byung Hak is the best economist in South Korea whom a true believer of free market policy. Yi Hun however doesn't really agree with his father. He had given his opinion on Jungin Bank to the whole country. Heo Jae, the vice chairman  of FSC is a man with big ambitious. He had experienced the financial struggle in 1997 first hand. Heo Jae is determined to improve the country's financial structure at any cost. He went for a dangerous road to achieve his mission. Lee Hye Joon is the new recruit in the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), she is a strong to her believe on what's right and what's wrong. Came from a poor family, she was always looked down on by her colleagues despite having the best idea. The three of them begin to work together to prevent another financial crisis to the nation.

SPOILER ALERT

At first, I was a bit reluctant to watch this drama, fearing that it might be another drama like 'Life', going on and on about the management of the hospital between the businessman-minded president and the medical staffs. Ugh, it was really boring for me. This drama however is another new world (kind of) to me. It was so crazy with the plot and everything. And it is like a big refresher for my dusty brain. Haha, even though I only learnt the fundamental things in the finance class, I still could understand their stances with the economical situation.

The plot was done well and it is very much informational. Especially when they related what happened back in 1997 and their situation now. It was like, the history repeat itself. At first, Heo Jae seems like the bad guy in this drama. He went against his own professor, Chae Byung Hak. He was so mad and frustrated with him to rejected every idea he came up with even he, Prof.Chae Byung Hak himself had no solution to the crisis. But as the drama went on, he was just another ambitious guy who wanted to realized his mission but went the wrong way. He dream to change and improve the country's financial structure but his method was way too wrong to begin with. He asked Bahama, a private equity fund to invest and buy Jungin Bank with a full knowledge that Bahama was the one who mess them up back in 1997. And when the representative of Bahama changed her mind, he request for Eugene Han, a more dangerous man to work with. 

I love how there were subtitles of their name and ranks in every episode. It makes the viewer understand a little bit more on who is who and what they did. It kinds of important because they keep getting promoted/demoted in the plot. The sub helped the viewer focused on what they might had missed because of how fast this drama move. There was also subs on technical terms that would help the viewer understand the plot better.

Every episode would left you with a big surprise and that makes me keep going. When I thought that they (Chae Yi Hun, Lee Hye Joon and Hoe Jae) would finally find their way out of the messes, there will always be something to hinder them from winning. This drama was so technical and intense. There was mentions of international affairs, the impacts of US-China trade war, the political involvement, the chaebols system power and so much more. I am so glad that I am able to digest them up without having me burning too much of my brain cells. It was all credited to screenplay. The director done a really great! And the actors were great playing out their character. Especially Lee Hye Joon. I love how strong, bold and determined she is. Her character was the strong base to this drama. Without her character, it will be pretty much like 'Life' again. 

The unexpected romance between Hye Joon and Eugene was so shocking to say. I honestly thought that Eugene only interested to her because of the similarity between her and his mother. But then, he seems so genuine that I'm confused. Hye Joon however doesn't seems interested to him in romantic way. 

The ending gave justice to everyone that deserves it. Even though Heo Jae failed to realize his dream, their economy at least doesn't go downhill. Even with the drama ending, it doesn't say that they able to recover in the short period of time. Chae Yi Hun was still have to went for negotiations and the bureaucrats still need to work hard on their economic. 


For more k-drama reviews, please visit 'K-drama review' on the menu tab !

-thes

Wednesday 14 October 2020

Way Back Home

October 14, 2020 4 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! Here is another South Korea movie review.



Title : Way Back Home
Runtime : 130 minutes 
Genre : Family, Drama
Country / Language : South Korea / Korean, France, English
Released year : 2013
Director : Pang Eun Jin
Writer : Yoon Jin Ho, Pang Eun Jin, Lee Jun Hwa
Cast : Jeon Do Yeon, Go Soo
Plot : 

Jung Yeon is married to Jong Bae and had a daughter named Hyerin. They owned a small car repair shop and lived happily. One day, they found out that a friend of Jong Bae had commit suicide. Before the accident, Jong Bae agreed to be a guarantor to his friend's loan. Now that he died, Jong Bae had to pay a large amount of money due to the sky rocket interest rate. They were forced to sold their shop and apartment. The family moved to a smaller one room apartment at a shady neighborhood. Their financial situation got worse. A friend of Jong Bae offers them a job to smuggle gemstones to Paris, France and if they were to get caught, they only had to pay for fine. After some thinking, Jong Bae called his friend to take up the offer but the friend only need woman. Frustrated with the situation, Jong Bae left home for a few days. Feeling desperate, Jung Yeon took up the offer and left a note to her husband saying that she took the job and left Hyerin with a friend. At the Paris airport, Jung Yeon was arrested and learnt that she wasn't transporting gemstones but cocaine. Her struggle to went back to Korea begun.

This movie is based on a true story of a woman named Jang Mi Jung who was arrested on Oct 2004 at Orly Airport in Paris, France. She eventually served prison time in Martinique in Caribbean and finally returned to South Korea on November 2006.

SPOILER ALERT

Okay, this movie was really heart-wrenching, not to the point that I cried but it still is. I feel so sorry for Jung Yeon, she was desperate to make money and having offered of million dollars was so tempting. With the rent, daily necessities and basic needs, she had no choice but accept the offer.

It feels so realistic with her situation. The financial struggles and wrong choice of friend drove her to do something that she never wanted to. As a result, she was arrested and her way to home was full of challenges. Her case was pretty straight-forward (that what they said in the movie) because she just need to prove that she really didn't know what she was carrying. However, with the shitty people at the place called 'embassy' her wait was stretched longer. She was supposed to wait for four months to receive her trials but it keep pushed back. What frustrated me the most was how their embassy didn't provide a translator for her. They literally said that there was no one living at the island without even checking the system. Shit people. Not to mentioned that they didn't submit the paper that prove Jung Yeon's innocence to the court and when the couple called, send letters to them they really ignored those two.

I feels so sad for the family. The husband, Jong Bae, couldn't stop blaming himself for being a useless husband and drove her wife into trouble. His struggle with the government and the detective and having to provide for his family. I was actually glad that he at least had a friend that wasn't bad as the other. At least he had someone to support him. Even the detective who in charge for the case wasn't really cooperative with him at first. He won't trust Jong Bae just because he is a husband of a felony. 

Their struggle gained attention of a producer, they make a documentary out of their struggle and even fly out to the island. By that time, Jung Yeon was released on parole and she was forced to feed herself and even pay for rent. Their reunion was so heart-breaking. After the documentary was aired, it receives big attention by the Korean citizen. They begin spreading the news and posting comments on government website. I can't imagined what would happen to Jung Yeon if they never caught the attention of the producer. And finally after two years of struggle, Jung Yeon was able to went back to her home country. The ending was so heart warming that they finally reunited as a family.

For more movie reviews, please visit 'Movie Reviews' on the menu tab !

-thes

Sunday 11 October 2020

Ursula by Syu Ariani

October 11, 2020 6 Comments
 Assalamualaikum, good day dearest ! Selamat hujung minggu semua ! Untuk review novel kalini, hm aku dah habis baca bulan lepas lagi... Review pun dah type lama tapi entah kenapa baru ni nak post. So, untuk review novel-novel akan datang aku akan try keep up sebab semua dah habis type and tinggal nak published je.


Tajuk : Ursula
Penulis : Syu Ariani
Mukasurat : 572 pages
Penerbit : Penulisan Enterprise
Terbitan : Mac 2020
ISBN : 9789672321224
Related : Anastasia
Blurb :

URSULA. Itu nama si antagonis di dalam dongeng The Little Mermaid. Tak pernah hatta sekali Hadi terfikir bahawa suatu hari nanti, dia akan bertemu dengan Ursula di alam nyata.

"Kahwin dengan aku atau nyawa dia melayang, di depan mata kau." - ASYFA HANNANI

Tak dapat Hadi melawan kerana wanita yang menerima jolokan Ursula itu mampu tunaikan kata-katanya! Demi keselamatan Batrisya, Hadi akur dengan permintaan Asyfa. Namun lama-lama, dia sedar satu hakikat. Hatinya mendambakan Asyfa. Dia mahu memadam kesemua kisah silam Asyfa dan menjadi penyembuh kesayangan wanita itu.

TENGKU HADI. Tak pernah terlintas dalam fikiran Asyfa, lelaki itu akan menjadi suaminya. Dia dan Hadi ibarat langit dengan bumi, ibarat lautan dan daratan. Permulaan hubungan mereka tidak seindah kisah dongeng, bilamana dia sendiri yang mengugut bersama nyawa seseorang sebagai cagaran. Tetapi...

"Leave the past there. I wanna be your present, your future." - HADI

Kala Hadi ungkapkan itu, Asyfa sedar dia inginkan lelaki itu di sisinya. Hadi ialah penawar bagi semua episod dukanya. Namun ternyata, tak mudah untuk melakar kebahagiaan bersama. Di setiap langkah mereka, ada lelehan darah mengiringi. Air mata dan pengorbanan sentiasa dituntut oleh mereka-mereka yang dahagakan nyawa Hadi dan Ismail.

Ada kisah lama yang tersingkap. Ada kebenaran yang baru terlerai. Ada pengkhianatan yang terbongkar. Bersama setiap itu, Asyfa dan Hadi hanya selangkah lebih dekat kepada si antagonis dalam kisah mereka. Kata si antagonis kepada Asyfa...

"Cuma dengan kematian kau, Hadi akan hidup!"

Kalau dalam versi asal kisah duyung, dia rela menjadi buih dan menghilang di lautan demi si tuan putera. Bagaimana pula dengan kisah Asyfa dan Hadi? Apa penamat kisah Ursula dan putera hatinya? Nyawa siapa yang akan menjadi cagarn untuk satu pengakhiran bahagia?
I am so excited for this book and I'm totally satisfied! Memang puas hati bila dapat baca kisah Tengku Hadi lepas dia kecewa dengan Aina Natasha. Oh, for those yang tak tahu, this novel is a spin-off to Syu Ariani's previous work, Anastasia. Daripada prolog pun dah dapat rasa keseronokan novel ni. Memang suspens bila babak Asyfa culik Batrisya untuk jadikan umpan supaya Hadi kahwin dengan dia. Timbul tanda tanya bila penulis tinggalkan macam tu aje tanpa sempat Hadi jawab. Memang terus baca lah gamaknya.

Pace pembacaan aku memang laju daripada biasa sebab sehari je aku dah lebih setengah novel aku baca. Lepas tu aku slowkan sikit, maklumlah, sayang nak habiskan cepat. Plot novel yang penuh dengan rahsia buatkan aku sentiasa tertanya-tanya, one of the reasons aku dapat baca laju. Walaupun novel ni dikira cinta aksi, babak aksi tak sebanyak novel sebelum ni. Which aku rasa agak santai and on edge at the same time. Novel ni banyak tekankan serang hendap. Lagipun, identiti si penyerang memang dah reveal so lebih banyak scene confrontation lisan. Tambah pulak dengan plot twist yang aku jangka dan tak jangka, hah memang memecut la aku habiskan novel ni.

Aku memang tak salah bila aku kata aku suka watak Hadi. Dia still the same straightforward person and very protective. Scene dia pergi cari Asyfa lepas dapat tahu Asyfa hilang memang gila sangat ! Sedangkan dia tahu orang-orang yang culik Asyfa is the same person who wanted him dead. Tapi sebab dia sayangkan Asyfa, he still looked for her. 

Bagi aku, relationship Hadi dengan Asyfa ni deep sangat, minus the fact that they get married for a very unique reason. What I mean is, walaupun Hadi sayang Asyfa gila-gila, dia tetap ada terlanjur kata yang buat Asyfa sakit hati. But at the end of the day, dia akan mintak maaf. And Asyfa pulak, walaupun dia kasar dengan Hadi, dia tetap letakkan Hadi as her top priority, even above of herself. And for me, these two  are in the deep relationship. Disebabkan rasa sayang dan cinta yang diorang ada for one another, diorang sanggup buat apa sahaja hatta membunuh sekalipun.

Oh, aku rasa aku banyak emosional baca novel ni. Aku kesiankan Asyfa, aku kesiankan Hadi. Lepastu, apa yang jadi dekat Ismail, lagilah mengganggu gugat air mata aku ni. Haih, memang sedih babak tu. One thing yang buat aku curious sangat is macam mana Asyfa dengan Dean kenal. Aku rasa bab tu takde mentioned dalam novel.

Ending novel ni memang memuaskan. Asyfa and Hadi dapat bahagia yang mereka dambakan walaupun few lives terkorban. Oh, kenapa aku rasa macam ada hint untuk novel baru (hm haritu penulis ada mention something like C dalam story dia hmmmmmmm me is excited) ? Ke novel yang dah sedia ada tapi aku taktahu? Anyway, this novel is really great ! And I'm looking forward to read more from Syu Ariani !

Oh, one thing yang aku sangat-sangat suka, is cara Kak Syu main dengan nama. Macam, Leira tu sebenarnya nama Ariel yang diterbalikkan, lepastu nama asal Dean, Ricky. Menarik...

p/s: aku tak tahu pulak lagu Baby Don't Cry by EXO tu inspired from The Little Mermaid. Thanks to this novel, a new knowledge gained!
-thes


Friday 9 October 2020

Soul Mechanic

October 09, 2020 10 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! Wow, I really did ignored my blog for a week and more. It feels weird to write on the review but I hope you could bear it with me.

not mine; credited to the rightful owner

Title : Soul Mechanic / Fix You / Soul Repairer
Episodes : 32 (30 minutes per episode)
Genre : Medical, Psychology, Romance
Director : Yoo Hyun Ki
Writer : Lee Hyang Hee
Network : KBS2
Cast : Shin Ha Kyun, Jung So Min
Plot : 

Lee Si Joon is a psychiatrist at Eun Kang Medical Center. He is workaholic and really care about his patients. One issue of his patient, Cha Dong Il led him to Han Woo Joo, who is a rising musical actress. Han Woo Joo had a problem to control her emotions and usually lose her temper. That incident changed her life, making it hard for her to get by. Feeling responsible, Si Joon offered a part time job to Han Woo Joo as a stage therapy actress. It turns out Han Woo Joo is a borderline personality disorder patient and he was asked to treat her.

SPOILER ALERT

Another medical drama on the list, here we go ! Okay, this drama highlighted on the psychological problem and the life of people with mental sickness. Watching this drama was like a comfort for me because I once dream to be a psychologist (obviously I'm too far from realizing that dream) and it was a great experience.

The pace are a little slow at first. Maybe it because of the new environment of the hospital and there wasn't much nerve-wrecking scenes as the other medical drama. However, it gets interesting when Lee Si Joon turns out to have a PTSD on Borderline Personality Disorder patients. And he was expected to treat Han Woo Joo. It might not make the pace any faster but at least there were some interesting moment that I could expect on. 

There were various cases that was discussed and the one that interest me the most were voyeurism. I never knew that it was counted as one of the mental sickness. I just thought it was pervert-ic type of a person. Turns out they are sick. Literally and figuratively. This drama had been an eye opener for me. Every one is sick. Be it in their heart, in their mind and not just physically sick. Just like Han Woo Joo, she was perfectly normal physically but there was a void in her heart  that makes her the way she is. 

The actors were so great with their roles! Shin Ha Kyun really surprises me. But then the only works of him that I had watch was 'Less Than Evil' and 'Room No.7'. And through this drama he was a bit more expressive than those two of his. He was like a lot more smile and jokes in this drama and it kind of weird, a good weird. Jung So Min was also a fun actress and her characters definitely put colors in this drama. 




For more k-drama reviews, please visit 'K-drama review' on the menu tab !

-thes