xiaoqiang says:, new features has been added for BLOGGER. and for once i saw my intern boy smiling for the whole entire day. okie, he's not my intern boy but he sits near me. reason being a new intern girl has come to take over his place while he will be leaving the company for national service. it really tempted me alot to ask," ayy.. why are you smiling the whole day??" * argh~*

maybe she is sweet. maybe he is shy. maybe she is the one he likes. maybe he fall in love with her at first sight( do you believe love at first sight?) maybe she's in for a boring job. maybe it's a relief for him to leave the company. or maybe...

maybe i am just being busybody. Thanks to Gerry who invited me to dinner on saturday's night. hey, i did helped to prepare the dinner. too bad there's no pix to show how wonderful and skilful our chef, Gerry whipped up dishes. thanx gerry. Jon & Candice came late to deliver dvds. i was watching " the beautiful mind " on cable while waiting for the the movies to arrive. and, gerry's dvd player can't played pirated discs( which is bad news).

Sent Adrian aka Ah Hock off to Brisbane on Sunday night. too bad, i don't have my camera with me. Good Luck bro in your ventures in south under. will see you again.

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lyrics of John Mraz - You and I Both

Was it you who spoke the words that things would happen but not to me
Oh, things are gonna happen naturally
Oh, and taking your advice and I'm looking on the bright side
And balancing the whole thing
Oh, But it often times those words get tangled up in lines
And the bright light turns to night
Oh, Until the dawn it brings
A little bird to sing about the magic that was you and me

Cause you and I both loved
What you and I spoke of
And others just read of, others only read a of the love
Oh, the love that I love

See I'm all about them words
Over numbers, unencumbered numbered words
Hundreds of pages, pages, pages, for words
More words then I had ever heard and I feel so alive

Cause you and I both loved
What you and I spoke of
And others just read of and if you could see me now
Oh, love love, you and I, you and I,
not so little you and I anymore, Umm
And with this silence brings a moral story
More importantly evolving is the glory of a boy

Cause you and I both loved
What you and I spoke of
And others just read of and if you could see me now
Well that I’m almost finally out of
I’m finally out of
Finally-dee-deedle le dee dee
Well I’m almost finally, finally
Well I am free, Oh, I'm free

And it's okay if you had to go away
Oh, just remember the telephone well their workin it both ways
But if I never ever hear them ring
If nothing else I'll think the bells inside
Have finally found you someone else and that's okay
Cause I'll remember everything you sang

Cause you and I both loved
What you and I spoke of
And others just read of and if you could see me now
Well that I’m almost finally out of
I’m finally out of, Finally-dee-deedle le dee dee
Well I’m almost finally, finally
Out of words

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below is yamato nadeshiko's episode 6.
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if you all can't wait for me to post the story. click here to view all 11 episode. i am just linking the english version to here.


Title: Yamato Nadeshiko (Perfect Woman )
click here to find out more.


a little more about...
Matsushima Nanako grew up in a very poor family and is thus determined to marry a rich man so that she will never have to go through poverty ever again, and is named the "gokon queen" in her quest to find her man. Tsutsumi Shinichi is a brilliant academic (Fields prize winner - Nobel Prize equivalent in Mathematics) who gave up his studies to take over his deceased father's fish-shop. They meet through a doctor's "gokon" (group date) and she falls in love with him under the mistaken assumption that he is a very rich man...

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Yamato Nadeshiko ("Perfect Woman") : Episode Six

I've lost. You were right after all. money is more important than the heart."






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Sakuma, Osuke, Kasuya and Hanabusa are sitting in the first-class section on Sakurako’s flight. As they prepare for take-off, Sakuma – being the only one who’s ever ridden in first-class – is telling them about the privileges. Suddenly, the plane is hijacked by terrorists! They’re all thrown in a panic, as the masked men leap all over the place, waving their guns. Only Sakurako remains calm, and even comes out with a serving tray, telling them that it’s a long flight and they’ll be hungry. Even the terrorists are taken back by her nerve and she takes the opportunity to catch them off-guard and grabs for their gun. In the ensuing confusion, Osuke is taken hostage – and surprisingly, Sakurako comes forward and asks them to release him, saying he’s their valued passenger and she will take his place. As the terrorists stand there non-plussed, the others take the opportunity to overcome the terrorists and they are subdued…It then turns out that it was nothing more than a practice run!! Everyone had known about it and only the four of them had thought it was the real thing! (Sakurako was supposed to tell them beforehand but she tells Aya that she didn’t have the chance to tell them before it started!)

Afterwards at Osuke’s, they’re all still understandably pissed off about it. It turns out that Sakurako had offered them the chance of a free first class flight – enticing them with the offer of free champagne and luxury but omitting the part about the practice hijack! Osuke’s still shell-shocked from the experience, and kind-hearted Mariko tries to console him by saying at least Sakurako had come out in defense of his wellbeing – but he retorts that it was just because she knew it was fake!

Sakurako is at a gokon with Hanabusa and his kohei medical friends and they’re all really young. Too young to even drink! After dinner, they all have a curfew so they have to go home right away. Sakurako is left there with Aya and Watabe, and she’s lamenting the fact that they really were too young, when Watabe suddenly speaks up and says that she doesn’t want to go to any more gokons. Sakurako responds by saying of course, she’s now dating Osuke. Aya asks Sakurako why she bothered to invite Osuke to the practice hijack, saying it’s not like her to continue liaising with someone she’d already chucked. Sakurako says "chucked? How can you say that when he’s not qualified to ever even been on my list." She then leaves, saying she has a date with Higashijujou.

After her date, when Higashijujou is dropping her off in front of her place, they talk about their upcoming trip to New York to get the wedding dress etc. After she leaves, Higashijujou finds that she has left her plane ticket in the car and doubles back – and finds her hopping into a cab. He follows her to Sakuma’s house, and confronts her there. But she prevaricates by saying that her house has flooded and Sakuma-sensei has been kind enough to let her stay with him and his wife – and she’s also using the opportunity to learn to cook from his wife, who is a very good chef. Higashijujou feels bad for doubting her, and leaves, after giving her the plane ticket. Hiding behind a sofa inside the living room, Osuke and Kasuya marvel at Sakurako’s acting abilities. Later, the three men comment on how manipulative Sakurako is and feels sorry for Higashijujou. As Osuke talks loudly about the poor males that fall into her evil clutches, Sakurako – who has just finished her bath – passes by. They stop, appalled at how loud they’ve been talking but she just says sweetly that she’s had a nice bath and is now going to bed.

Nami’s out with Hanabusa, and as he’s about to kiss her, her phone rings and seeing that it’s Kasuya calling, she doesn’t answer. He asks her what is going on between her and Kasuya, and she says nothing, only that when Hanabusa’s too busy to see her, she feels lonely and Kasuya is nice enough to keep her company and all they do is go out for dinner. Meanwhile, Kasuya is disheartened to find that she’s not answering the phone but consoles himself by thinking that she’s such a good girl she must have already gone to bed. He then falls into a drunken stupor and Osuke carries him home while Sakurako watches them leave from the window…

The next day, the credit agency goes to the fish shop, warning them about the default on their loan and how they’ll have to liquidate if they don’t pay up. Watabe passes by and hears their conversation. After the guy leaves, Osuke gives Watabe the sweater he bought to replace the one she’d dirtied while helping out at the store. She worries if he’s okay with his finances, and he realises she must have overheard the creditor. She then tells them that she’d still like to come and help out, and Osuke says that she’s welcome to so long as the shop is still in business.

Sakurako goes home to check her mail and finds a huge credit card bill (820,000 yen!!) Her landlady also chases her for the rent, even though the place is now clearly unliveable. She goes inside and finds all her stuff destroyed. Watabe comes by as Sakurako is leaving and Sakurako tells her about all her misfortunes, saying that she hates poverty and might as well just give up the struggle and depend on Higashijujou. Watabe says that she’s lucky she can do that, whereas poor Osuke has no way out of his debts. Hearing about how he’s worse off than she is, Sakurako says that it makes her feel somewhat better.

Osuke delivers the daily catch to Mariko’s house and she gets him to prepare the sushi and cons him into having dinner with Sakurako, saying that she has a date with her husband.

Mariko’s at a fancy restaurant with Sakuma, and he comments on how it’s not something he’ll do often. But he’s betrayed by the headwaiter, who knows him as a regular. Mariko is not bothered by this, and just tells the guy to go ahead and order Sakuma’s favourite dishes. Sakuma’s naturally somewhat uneasy and as he tries to make up for it by lavishly complimenting Mariko, Kasuya shows up with Nami. Kasuya’s trying to hit on her as usual, and he tries to make out how special the date is, by saying "tonight, it’s a different me, with a different you, in this different place"… Nami responds provocatively by saying "all beginnings start with a meal…"

In contrast, the atmosphere at Sakuma’s house is very cold. Osuke is trying to make small-talk while eating the sashimi with Sakurako but she’s not really responding. Suddenly, she comments on how expensive the fish is and what a waste it would be if they didn’t finish it. Osuke’s frustrated to hear her talk of nothing but money and says that it’s not the cost but the thought behind it and how he’d put his heart into bringing this for Sakuma and Mariko, hoping it would bring them joy when sharing it. Sakurako ‘s not touched at all by his words, and says he shouldn’t be talking of "heart" when concentrating on repaying his debt. He’s surprised that she knows but realises Watabe must have told her. She then challenges him by saying would he still consider the heart to be most important, even if he goes bankrupt and his shop goes bust? Osuke replies that he won’t let it go bust, because it’s his father’s lifeblood and it’s also because of the shop that he had the opportunity to study abroad. "In that case, why’d you quit?" asks Sakurako. "All your other college buddies are so successful now, while you’re floundering in your debt-ridden fish shop." He tells her that it’s because he had to come back to take over his father’s business after his dad’s health started failing and his mom couldn’t handle it on her own. "Beautiful words" she taunts, "but the truth is that you were just trying to find an escape route. You wanted to run away from the road to wealth and success." He insisted that wealth wasn’t the reason he took up his studies. "In that case, why’d you go to Boston? If you were going to give up half-way through, why bother going at all? Was it because you couldn’t handle Yukiko-san’s rejection and needed to run away?" He’s visibly upset by her words and says "leave Yukiko out of this! She has nothing to do with you!" She retorts, "Really? Didn’t you fall for me because I looked just like her? So all your grand words about "heart" is just empty talk. In the end, you still chose a woman on the strength of her face!" He’s very pissed off at this point and says "Other than your face, what is there to love? How many men would fall in love with you once they knew your real character?" She glares at him and then runs up the stairs. He suddenly realises what he’d said and start to apologize. She turns around and asks him if he’s feeling regret or just wants to continue the fight. He’s lost his steam by now, and says deflatedly that it was only because what she said was true. He was running away, and so she’s right, maybe he shouldn’t have gone to Boston in the first place… She turns away but then looks back at him nonplussed.

After dinner, Nami and Kasuya end up in front of the love hotel again and this time, she agrees to go in with him. But once inside, the phone rings and it’s the hotel asking if they are planning to stay on, saying that once past 10 pm, they’ll have to pay for the full night. Nami tells them that they’re not, and then turns regretfullyl to Kasuya, saying she didn’t realise that they only had the room until 10 pm. She then leaves, while Kasuya is left behind, feeling deflated from the news!

Mariko and Sakuma comes home to a silent house and speculate that Osuke is in the bedroom with Sakurako. They then find a dejected Osuke hunched in the corner of their living room. Osuke tells them that he’d said some pretty awful things to her and she’d left the house in a huff. Sakuma tells him not to worry, she’s probably just run off to her fiance’s place.

In fact, Sakurako has gone home. She’s wandering around in her burned-down flat, thinking about the things Osuke had said to her. Suddenly her phone rings and it’s Higashijujou calling to make a date for tomorrow, so they can check out their wedding venue and to have dinner with his parents. He tells her that he has important news to announce but when she asks him what it is, he says he’ll tell her tomorrow. After he hangs up the phone, he looks down at his desk where there’s a plan of a new hospital…

Osuke goes home and finds his mom still awake. She can’t sleep because of the enormous debt they’ve accumulated and she feels helpless over the fact that they’ll soon lose the store – which represented his father’s lifetime of toil and which Osuke had given up his own studies to come back and save. Osuke tells her not to worry (but he looks pretty worried himself).

The next morning, Mariko and Sakuma are discussing how Sakurako had not come back the entire night and he says that there’s nothing to worry about since she has plenty of options – her fiance as well as all the men she’d met in gokon. But Mariko is worried over the thought of her having spent the night on her own, and Sakuma tells her that she’s too soft-hearted and that she mustn’t be too nice to Sakurako when she comes back – Mariko then tells him that she already is back and is just upstairs changing. Sakurako comes down at this point and Sakuma, despite his harsh words, visibly softens at the sight of her loveliness. He can’t help from telling her that how nice she looks and asks if she’s going to a gokon, but she tells him that she’s going to check out her wedding venue.

After Sakuma leaves, Sakurako apologizes to Mariko for making her worry last night, and Mariko asks if she had a fight with Osuke, saying that she hasn’t seen him this dejected since coming back from Boston. "He came back to take over his father’s shop after his father died, right?" comments Sakurako. "That’s part of the reason," says Mariko. "It’s also because the obstacles posed in Boston. You see, there are many brilliant scholars there, and the competition is very keen. After all that time, Osuke was under a lot of pressure to perform, and to produce his thesis. Coming back to take over his father’s business would give him a good excuse to end the struggle." Her words make Sakurako think back on the night before, when she’d accused him of running away.

The creditor is back at Osuke’s shop to give him final warning. Meanwhile Kasuya passes by the neighborhood and hears some of the others gossipping about how the land in their area was being reclaimed to build a new hospital, and it’s only Osuke’s property that is still outstanding. Kasuya is shocked to learn this and immediately calls Sakuma and tells him the news over the phone.

Meanwhile in a coffee shop, the credit agency guy is telling Osuke how they plan to instigate legal proceedings to claim both his shop and the land it’s on, once Osuke defaults on the final due date of his loan. He tells him that they will not extend the loan and then leaves.

When Osuke returns to the fish shop, he finds Watabe there minding the store as his mother’s gone off to a gathering. The kid who calls Osuke "oyaji" comes running up and asks him if it’s true that the shop is going to close down, saying that he’d heard the news from his mom. Osuke tries to reassure him that the shop will not shut down but the kid runs off before he finishes his complicated explanation using a math formula for infinity. Watabe tells Osuke that she believes it’ll all be okay and then says that she likes best Osuke as the owner of the fish shop.

Meanwhile, Higashijujou is telling Sakurako about his plans to build a new hospital and she’s naturally impressed. (He looks worried and wants to tell her something more – presumably about the location - but then holds back.)

Back at Sakuma’s they’re all looking very serious and at first, Osuke tries to make light of his situation but then Kasuya reveals that through his credit agency, he’s realised just how big the problem is, and how come Osuke hadn’t come to him earlier. ("So you would have been able to help?" he asks eagerly. "No," he answers.) They then start to blame it all on Sakurako, saying that if he hadn’t met her, he wouldn’t have spent all that money on dating her and then later, wasted all his time trying to help her – with the fire and everything . Mariko admonishes Kasuya for being so harsh, but then Kasuya tells them that he’s just got warning that things will become worse for Osuke. "What?" asks Osuke fearfully.

Meanwhile, Sakurako is at Higashijujou’s parent’s home and his mom is saying how impatient Higashijujou is with the hospital plans, saying that they hadn’t even completed the land purchase yet and already he has an architect working on the drafting plans. His dad tells her that it’s okay, he’d just talked to the credit agency and they should be able to complete the land sales and start construction next month.

Back at Sakuma’s, Kasuya reveals that the plans for the repurchase of Osuke’s district are for the building of a new hospital… and the buyer is Higashijujou." Osuke is shocked at the news, and says brokenly, "the shop will be closed down, our home will be taken away…. So, it’s all over."

At Higashijujou’s, Sakurako also finds out that the hospital will be built over property that includes Osuke’s fish shop. As the father continues to talk about what a great location it is and how it’s his wedding gift to them, Higashijujou looks over slightly apprehensively at Sakurako’s reaction, but she is taking it very calmly and there’s nothing in her outward demeanour to show that she’s disturbed by the news.

Osuke is driving through the rain and as he passes by the park, he remembers that fateful night with Sakurako when he kissed her in the lake. His thoughts then drift over to her words the other night, when she accused him of running away… and then he thinks about what she said in reference to his debt and challenges his assertion that the heart was still the most important thing…

As he arrives in front of his shop, Sakurako also shows up. He tells her that he has lost, that she is right after all. Money does matter more than the heart…" She doesn’t say anything, but continues to stand there, looking at him silently (and sadly) while he hangs his head in defeat.








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