Day : Drama Night ? :D

      Korean Drama : Bad Guy

      Bad Guys is a 11 episode must watch Korean drama that tells a story of how after the Police Chief’s son dies in a violent crime, he asks the suspended ‘crazy dog’ detective Oh Goo Tak ( Kim Sang Joong)  to form a team to combat rising violent crimes. Detective Oh Goo Tak then gathers the youngest serial killer in the Korea’s history with extraordinary intelligence, Lee Jung Moon (Park Hae jin), Park Woong Chul (Ma Dong seok) a notorious gangster, and Jung Tae Soo (Jo Dong Hyuk) who is a contract killer and all of them are currently serving time for their respective heinous crimes. Police Inspector Yoo Mi Young (Gang Ye won) has also joins the team to keep the team ‘Crazy Dogs’ in check. 

      Bad Guys constantly churned out solid episodes every week and did a good job of keeping us on our toes for its entire 11 episode run, I assure you don’t wouldn’t want to miss one bit of it as it’s that good. The pace was good it wasn’t too slow or too fast the only thing I hated was waiting a whole week for the next episode’s sub version to come out. Bad Guys is easily among one of my favourite Korean Dramas!!!

      Bad Guys kept its focus on our Team Crazy Dogs and the growing pains that come along with any new kind of relationship. That is what I felt kept the show from becoming too much like a straight procedural show that solves crimes every week. (how boring right? Zzz) I loved their constant bickering and love-hate relationship between one another. Besides that, can we just take a moment to appreciate all the action scenes in this drama.. like OMG it was AMAZING, every punch, every kick looked real and on point, without a single flaw, it was just so intense.

       I believe that a good story should be able to introduce and induce life into its characters and establish their relationships with each other within its few hours or minutes. And for what it’s worth Bad Guys certainly falls into this category. Even the teensy tiny details weren’t left out. The show apart from solving crime of the week (which was really interesting how each episode’s crime was different from the other) also focuses on its four main characters.Woong-chul, Tae-soo, and Jung-moon whom each had a story to tell and secrets to hide, and their paths were more intertwined than they thought. It gave us clues as well as red herrings each week to solve the jigsaw puzzle of Jung moon’s mysterious past. The show built up to this climax rather well, taking individual story lines from Woong Chul’s gangster background to Tae Soo’s hired assassin connections a straight procedural show that solves crimes every week. (how boring right? Zzz) I loved their constant bickering and love-hate relationship between one another. Besides that, can we just take a moment to appreciate all the action scenes in this drama.. like OMG it was AMAZING, every punch, every kick looked real and on point, without a single flaw, it was just so intense.

      I believe that a good story should be able to introduce and induce life into its characters and establish their relationships with each other within its few hours or minutes. And for what it’s worth Bad Guys certainly falls into this category. Even the teensy tiny details weren’t left out. The show apart from solving crime of the week (which was really interesting how each episode’s crime was different from the other) also focuses on its four main characters.Woong-chul, Tae-soo, and Jung-moon whom each had a story to tell and secrets to hide, and their paths were more intertwined than they thought. It gave us clues as well as red herrings each week to solve the jigsaw puzzle of Jung moon’s mysterious past. The show built up to this climax rather well, taking individual storylines from Woong Chul’s gangster background to Tae Soo’s hired assassin connections to play a part in Goo Tak’s central revenge plot against Jung Moon. #spoilers...

      I really think Bad Guys is a really good, easy to watch drama for people who like mystery and crime investigation or you know people who like a good drama. The story was truly amazing and the actors and actresses really did a fantastic job in portraying their character. It’s definitely worth your time, so why not give this drama a go, eh?

Day : Back to Old Memories

5 Things We Probably Miss from the Old MapleStory

  

      Whether you’re a hardcore gamer or a casual gamer, chances are you’ve either played or come across one of the more popular games back then: MapleStory. However, so much has changed since then, with the Big Bang, new classes with dragons floating over their heads, and new maps with even weirder monsters. The real essence of MapleStory is so much different now. For the sake of nostalgia, here are some awesome memories from the old MapleStory we all knew and loved.

1. The best spot to hangout in the entire game.

                                  

Who could forget this spot "The Henesys Hunting Ground I", where people just came here to chill and relax? Back then, leveling was so tough that reaching level 30 almost seemed impossible unless you had no life and being a level 70 is like god. Instead, we hung around and just talked or flirted while passing time. Despite being a MMORPG which emphasis on leveling, we took the social aspect more seriously, and made plenty of friends which was way more fun.

2. Kerning PQ (a.k.a KPQ), auto-clicking to get into PQ

                         

Leveling was so mundane back then that doing party quests was the easier and more fun way to level up. Everyone would queue up in Kerning City around the sewer area and just wait for their turn to enter the quest. I believe the instance system was relatively new at that point in time, thus disallowing parties to enter at the same time. Most players would end up downloading a software called ‘Autoclicker’, which did exactly what it’s named after, so as to increase their chances of getting in. Some would also use "NPC Chat Button" and also "/find" to track other people to know whether are they coming out yet. The feeling of getting into the PQ faster than other parties was the best feeling ever, it was like a sense of achievement.

3. Taking a plane to Orbis

                           

Probably the highest point of the Maplestory timeline was the opening of Orbis, where you had to pay for ticket to get there. After almost 2-3 years exploring the old Victoria Island, the opening of a new island was definitely appealing for all. One particular instance then was the occasional appearance of the Crimson Balrog, which was the most powerful monster back then. It was probably the thing that would piss anyone off the most, after paying the money to get to the new island and ended up in a gravestone back in where you came from. But it would be fun too if your guild decided to go for a Crimson Balrog raid, where you get to have your revenge against these creatures that once waste your 80k mesos.

4. Spawning mobs to kill noobs

                            

This was probably the funniest moments when you're the one summoning them and the worst moments when you're the "noobs". Back in the days many characters are very low level as it was way harder to level up back then compared to now. Hence spawning or summoning some high level mobs would instantly kill most of the people there as they are far out-leveled by the monsters. You can normally see these monsters being summoned in famous hang out places like Henesys Hunting Ground I, Kerning PQ spot and in the picture above, Perion (a.k.a the old Free Market).

5. The Best BGMs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DEkF2uvPoc

Probably the most memorable parts of the old games were the Background Music. They had almost the perfect combination of soothing and uplifting tones and were also addictive. They change as you travel so that it was hard to get bored of them. Have a trip back to nostalgia-land by listening to these. 

( P.S. These BGMs are perfect for studying and relaxing in my opinion.)

Day : Literature Time 3 !

Literature Work : How a character changed due to a certain events that have taken place

      Out of a million novels to pick from, I've decided the novel Step by Wicked Step written by Anne Fine would be the best one for this topic. Many character has undergone many events in their lives but the most impact change would definitely be Colin.

      First and foremost, Colin has changed into a very unhappy and lonely boy. And why is that? All because he had to join a new school when his mother moved out of their home with him, he couldn't do anything, he had no authorities, let alone priorities from his mother. Colin's mother has always prioritize her canteen work over him. Besides that he had to go thru many unpleasant experiences like getting ignored because if you transfer to a school, you basically have no friends unless you're hot or pretty. Because everyone already has their own circle of friends, there's no slot for a newcomer, never. Having many problems is one thing but not being able to share his problems is the worst thing to happen especially when it applies to your loved ones. Colin's mother is so obsess with her job at the canteen and the household chores, she ain't got time for Colin's petty problems. Her own life is already a problem, why would she want more, is what she probably thinks. With these Colin has changed from a jolly and happy go lucky boy into an unhappy and forever alone boy.

      Secondly, Colin that has nothing at all becomes a dreamy boy which causes him to daydream everyday and have less focus in his studies or class and thus doing badly in examinations. What could cause him to daydream so much? Mainly would be his dad that he misses so much, after they were separated from each other, Colin has missed him twice the more amount than he had before. For instance, every night he would take the tobacco tin out of the toe of his boot which was his only memorial stuff about his dad and put it under his pillow. Doing that helps remind him of the good old times when they were still together like humming a their favourite song and staying awake for hours talking to his dad. Colin always pretends that his dad was their by doing those what seemed to be memorable things. These are the reasons why Colin has became such a dreamy person, not that charming dreamy person but a all day everyday day dream person.

      Thirdly, Colin after all these years has turned into someone resourceful. It was exactly 5 years, 8 months, and 7 days since he was separated from his dad. Now that's an information that is quite shocking to hear, I mean who records duration like this? He has always secretly writes his dad's name and his old address on the forms at school. He couldn't accept the truth that his dad is no longer his dad anymore, all he have was hope but hope couldn't bring him anywhere close to his objectives. Sometimes in life, I do that too but then again doing it is harmless anyway its just all for self happiness. But the least Colin was do was try his very best, he tries to save money and he even does three paper rounds to earn money just to search for his dad when he is older. It was all part of his marvelous plan, waiting to be succeeded when he is older. So with his loss, he became a very resourceful person.

      In conclusion, Colin responded negatively to the changes in his life, always sad, dreamy, moody and dull at first. Finally his bulb had lit up and he decided sitting there weeping couldn't solve any of his current problems. He finally decided to do something worthy to search for his dad, the little boy has finally grown mature. In the end, his love and longing for his dad motivated him to become optimistic, resourceful and patient in his mission. The mission to search for his dad.

Day : Literature Time 2 !

Literature Work : Compare Two Characters

      Out of so many novels, I have decided to choose this novel, Step by Wicked Step written by Anne Fine. The characters that I'll be comparing will be Richard and Colin. We'll be looking at what similarities can these 2 young boy could bear.

      The first similarity would be their love for their dad. As we all know, we all love our dad and there is no different for these 2 boys too. They both missed their fathers, what could have happened to their fathers? In Richard's side of the story, his father died from a fever. Richard was given a big responsibility of taking care of his sister and his mother after the loss of his father. In Colin's side of the story, he and his mother had moved away with his father's knowledge. Probably because they broke up and divorce, Colin couldn't stand losing his father, he knew he was still out there somewhere. But unfortunately for Richard, he lost his father permanently, poor young boy lost his father when he was still a child, he could never see his father ever again. But for Colin, he was still searching for his stepfather because they used to be very good pals together. Rumors said that he is still searching for him up until today. In conclusion, they both missed their fathers very much but couldn't do anything about it.

      Secondly, their next similarity would be getting ignored by their mothers. What would possibly be worst after than losing their beloved father? Which is exactly getting ignored by their one and only loved ones left, their mothers. Both Richard and Colin did not get much attention from their mothers. In Richard's story, his mother was too busy getting entertained by Reverend Coldstone, the evil wicked step dad that was aiming for Richard's family's fortune all this time. Richard couldn't even get his mother's support when he was getting bullied by Reverend Coldstone. What more would be worst than that? In Colin's story, his mother was busy raising Colin all alone but she did not realize that how much he missed his dad. She was always busy working at the canteen just to raise Colin single- handedly and also with the household chores which would be a great help if Colin would actually help doing it. In the end, the two boys did not feel their mother's loved.

      Moving on, their third similarity would definitely be their most important decision, running away just to make things work, at least that's what they think. They both ran away thinking it would solve their problems but in the end all they both did was cause more trouble. Richard ran away from home because he was constantly being bullied in his boarding school and also he thinks that his family would do way better if he wasn't around. Colin ran way thinking that him alone can find his step father back because his mother couldn't care less about it. After running away for a long time, Richard finally realized that running away couldn't solve his problems. When he went back, it was all too late, weep all you can as what had happened has already happened. Colin on the other side did three paper rounds to save money to search for his stepfather, Colin did the search the hard way but he could have just married a rich lady like how Richard's sister, Charlotte did. But in the end, both ended up achieving merely nothing but bad news.

      In conclusion, these two characters suffered not only sorrow but much pain. Mainly because no one cares about them or even how they felt, not even their loved ones. Not to mentioned no one is there to advise them about their decisions. The moral of the story is, running away does not solve any problems, in fact it can backfire and affect the people around you.

Day : Literature Time !

SPM 2013 ( An important decision made by one of the characters )

The novel I chose is Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine. The character Richard Clayton Harwick made an important decision in the story, which is running away from home. The decision made by Richard has affected three other characters in the story which are Richard’s Mother Lilith , Richard’s Sister Charlotte , and Richard’s Step Father Reverend Coldstone.

Richard was very young when his father died because of fever. Before his father passed away, he told Richard to listen to his mother, to take care of her and his sister, Charlotte. However, he felt that he was too young to be given this responsibility and it was unfair of his father to tell to do so. Things had changed to the worst after the death of his father.  Mr. Coldstone made all the rules in the house and Richard hated him. Richard was send to Boarding school for 4 years. Here Richard was bullied, starved, robbed, learnt to be silent and patient. He couldn’t stand the torturing here and so Richard made a decision to leave home. What he has yet to know is that the decision he made was going to be a big and important decision.

First and foremost, Richard’s Mother, Lilith had died of heart break. She was depressed just from the idea of Richard running away, she spent all of her fortune looking for Richard but he was no where to be seen. One day while he was still “running away” he saw a notice in the newspaper, asking him to contact Riddle & Flook for he is now the owner of Old Harwick Hall. When he went back to Old Harwick Hall, he found a letter which was written by Charlotte, in his tower room. From the letter , “ First Mother spent a fortune seeking you and all of us suffered Mr Coldstone’s anger as money slipped steadily away… Lilith ! Waste more of your dwindling fortune on this folly and I will make you pay for it twice over ! And so he did. Last year she died ( of him too close, and you too far.) “. The letter stated that Richard’s decision of running away had made her own mother died of heart break.

Secondly, Richard’s Sister, Charlotte had died from fever of child birth. After her mother, Lilith passed away, Mr Coldstone never spent a penny looking for Richard. Charlotte felt that she was the only hope left to find Richard, she had no money to begin with but upon her sixteenth birthday, Charlotte married Charles Devere, a prosperous man who had promised Charlotte that he would continue the search for Richard. And so she died in fever of childbirth as stated in the letter she wrote. “ If I die in fever of childbirth, as so many do, then Charles will send this letter to our old home… “ Richard went home after seeing the notice paper from Riddle and Flook that were hired by Charles Devere, and there he found the letter. This all means his sister, Charlotte had died in fever of child birth.

Last but not least, Richard’s Reverend Coldstone, he had died from fury just by the money spent by Richard’s Mother, Lilith for searching Richard. Mr Coldstone is a cunning man who took advantage of Richard’s Mother, Lilith for her frail and gullible personality. When Richard’s Father died, he got close to Lilith for all he was seeking was Richard’s family fortune. Richard’s Mother remarries Mr Coldstone, after that he made new rules and sent Richard to a boarding school because he was in his way of his motives. Richard was bullied in the boarding school and he decided to ran away. Before Mr Coldstone could get the fortune he was seeking for so long, Richard’s Mother, Lilith spent it all to search for Richard, who had ran away. He was furious as once again stated in Charlotte’s letter, “What ! Yet another costly search ! Let the ungrateful boy be lost for ever ! Lilith ! Waste more of your dwindling fortune on this folly and I will make you pay for it twice over !” His death might not be stated in the letter but even a dim boy could figure out that he died of fury from the fortune spent on searching for Richard.

Therefore, these are the characters affected by the one and only big and important decision made by Richard Clayton Harwick.