Best Of TVB Drama: The Confidant (大太監)

English Title: The Confidant
Grand Production of 2012
Cantonese Title: 大太監 (dai tai gam)
Cast: Wayne Lai Yiu Cheung 黎耀祥, Michelle Yim 米 雪, Maggie Shiu 邵美琪, Raymond Wong Ho Yin 黃浩然, Aimee Chan 陳茵媺, Raymond Cho 曹永廉, Nancy Wu 胡定欣, Natalie Tong 唐詩詠
Episodes: 33
Airing date: 5 November 2012
Themesong: Mutual Help in Humble Circumstances (相濡以沫) by Shirley Kwan | Sub Themesong:  Sun and Moon (日月) by Wayne Lai & Nancy Wu
Official: Website
Executive Producer: Law Wing Yin
Scriptwriter: Kwan Chung Ling

Synopsis:

Owing to the destitution during their youth, LI LIAN-YING (Wayne Lai) and AN DE-HAI (Raymond Cho) have presented themselves as eunuchs in the court, where they serve their apprenticeship with an old eunuch LAU DOR-SANG (Chung King Fai). Having closely bonded to one another, the two respectively played dominant roles during the rule of Empress Dowager CIXI (Michelle Yim). However, unlike DE-HAI’s single-minded obsession with greed, LIAN-YING overcautiously abides by the rules, gradually diverging from the former. In view of them gaining recognition from CIXI, the Head Eunuch CHAN FOK (Yueh Hua) resorts to strike treachery against LIAN-YING and DE-HAI, feeling that his position is threatened. Fortunately, with the help of his two close friends, a palace maid SIN-YUNG (Nancy Wu) and a eunuch of the Imperial Dispensary YIU SHEUNG-HEI (Raymond Wong), LIAN-YING manages to avert the disaster. With the Emperor TONGZHI (Oscar Leung) conferring the throne on his Empress, Empress Dowager CIAN (Maggie Shiu) fears that CIXI will further wield power. She then colludes with Prince GONG (Cheung Kwok Keung) to sow discords among the court, isolating CIXI. In the face of such ever-changing phenomena, only LIAN-YING firmly stands his ground on the motto of “A servant is no more than a servant”, remaining as CIXI’s loyal attendant.……MY RATING: 5/5 ; KIMMY RATING: 5/5

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李連英(黎耀祥)與安德海(曹永廉)少時因家貧賣身入宮作太監，二人拜老太監劉多生(鍾景輝)為師，師兄弟感情深厚，先後成為慈禧太后(米雪)身邊重臣。 可惜德海利慾薰心，與安份守己、謹小慎微之連英漸行漸遠。總管太監陳福(岳華)眼看連英、德海得慈禧賞識，感地位不保，對二人施毒手，幸連英得宮女倩蓉 (胡定欣)與御藥房太監姚雙喜(黃浩然)兩位好友相助，化險為夷。同治帝(梁烈唯)冊立皇后，慈安太后(邵美琪)恐慈禧進一步掌握大權，遂與恭親王(張國 強)挑撥朝中勢力，令慈禧孤立無援；在波譎雲詭變局中，只有緊守「奴才就是奴才」訓言之連英，依然侍奉在側…… MY RATING: 5/5 ; KIMMY RATING: 5/5

DVD Movie: Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers

Release Date: 12th December 2002
Language: English
Subtitle: Malay / Chinese
Genre: Action / Adventure
Running Time: 3 Hours 44 Minutes
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin 

Synopsis:

The surviving members of the Fellowship have split into three groups. Frodo and Sam face many perils on their continuing quest to save Middle-earth by destroying the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Merry and Pippin escape from the Orcs and must convince the Ents to join the battle against evil. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas encounter a mysteriously transformed Gandalf and battle Saruman's army at Helm's Deep. 

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My Comments: After watching the 1st Episode of Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Rings, the journey continues on the 2nd chapter. It was a great storyline on the first chapter and what about the second chapter? I watched this 2nd chapter via DVD and I find out that this movie is much more better than the first one. Introducing Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers. It talks about the war between Saruman and the Hobbits accompanied by it's ally. The movie is more action packed than the first chapter while the storyline has become more and more interesting and the second chapter would be definitely better than the first chapter. I was so impressed by Peter Jackson whose idea was splendid and great. In terms of storyline, plot and the action in this movie, it was a step ahead of everything and I would like to give a big applause to him. You must watch this movie no matter what as it is one of the best movie ever in the early 20th century. Be sure you watch the first chapter first before proceeding to watch the second chapter as it's heavily related and linked together. Enjoy this movie. MY RATING: 5/5 (PERFECT) ; KIMMY RATING: 5/5 (PERFECT)

DVD Movie: Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

Release Date: 19th December 2001
Language: English
Subtitle: Malay / Chinese
Genre: Action / Adventure
Running Time: 3 Hours 28 Minutes
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin

Synopsis:

Sauron, the dark lord, has awakened and threatens to conquer Middle-earth. To stop this ancient evil once and for all, Frodo Baggins must destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Men, Hobbits, a wizard, an Elf and a Dwarf form a fellowship to help him on his quest. He travels from his home in the Shire with Sam, Merry and Pippin to Bree where they meet Aragorn. Pursued by Black Riders, they must get to Rivendell where they decide to take the ring to Mordor, and where they are joined by Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas, and Boromir. They try to cross the mountains but are defeated because of Saruman's magic and travel underneath, through the mines of Moria, where Gandalf falls into a chasm while fighting a Balrog. They then travel to the country of the elves in Lothlórien, and down the Great River on boats, where the company splits during an attack by Uruk-Hai. Boromir is killed, and Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas split off to track the Uruk-Hai who have captured Merry and Pippin. Frodo and Sam head east in the direction of Mordor.

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My Comments: Finally I manage to get to watch this movie and many of you would have taught that I am so outdated. Yes, I am so outdated and the movie I've watch is previously one of the most anticipated movie of all time where this movie got lots of awards and being awarded the best movie of the year award. Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring is the movie I am watching. It was a great movie of all times, gathering a few tribes around the world and to fight for justice and to protect the ring from being held back by the bad enemy. The storyline was perfectly executed and it was a great adventurous movie as well thanks to the director Peter Jackson wonderful plot and its storyline. The plot looks alive and kicking where the famous actor and actress such as Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin etc. looks very strong in supporting this movie. It was also an action packed movie from the start till the end and I was very amazed by movie as well. This movie running time is about 208 minutes of fun, thrilled and suspense which gives its audience nothing to be bored about and you can fully concentrate on this movie as well. This movie is quite similar like Alice In Wonderland and Harry Potter but this movie is much more better in terms of everything including the plot, storyline and action. I guess most of you would have watch this movie before 10 years back and if you have not, kindly purchase a DVD and watch this movie at home. No regrets just amazing! MY RATING: 5/5 ; KIMMY RATING: 5/5

Festival: Happy Deepavali

I on behalf of alexleow-kimmy.com would like to wish all Hindu's readers of my blog a Happy Deepavali. May the year 2012 brings luck, prosperity and of course a brighter light to you and your blessed luck in future. Hindu's around the globe celebrate Deepavali (also known as Festival Of Light).

During the Deepavali day, Hindu's will go to the temple to perform their prayers and give blessings to their God. After performing the prayers in the morning, then they will welcomed their invited guests to their house where various food and drinks will be served to their guests. Their traditional cookies during Deepavali are Muruku's and several other cookies such as egg tarts, chocolate cookies, Indian sugar cookies etc. Besides, when you visit your Indian or Hindu friends, you will see their houses will be lighten up with a bundle of lights to celebrate the Festival Of Lights. Kids and adults will celebrate Deepavali with new clothes as a great start to the year and enjoy themselves on that day. 

Remember during this festive season, be extra careful on the roads and drive safely. Don't drink and drive and don't overspeed as well as it kills. Enjoy yourself during the festive season and remember to take care of yourself and don't fall sick. Drink lots of water and keep healthy. HAPPY DEEPAVALI to all! :)

Cinema Movie: Skyfall

Release Date:01 Nov 2012

Release Date (2D):01 Nov 2012

Language:English
Subtitle:Chinese / Malay

Genre:Action / Adventure
Running Time:143 minutes

Running Time (2D):143 minutes

Director: Sam Mendes

Cast: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Javier Bardem 

Synopsis:

SKYFALL, from Albert R Broccoli's EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment, is directed by Academy Award® winner Sam Mendes and stars Daniel Craig, who returns for his third film as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007. 

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My Comments: After watching Quantum Of Solace the previous day, today ME & Kimmy had step into the cinema to catch the latest James Bond movie called Skyfall. I watched this movie at TGV Aeon Metro Prima in Kepong. Let's go straight to the movie comments. This movie is slightly overrated and I feel the previous movie is better than this ones. The storyline is good but the action is slightly less than the previous episode and I would say there's nothing so special about this movie. Many had said that this movie is very good and gave a very high marks but for me I don't think so. For those who are new to James Bond movie might think this movie is very good indeed. I have to agree with that. I would not say it's bad but overall it's good but still below my expectations. Daniel Craig and Judi Dench are still in the lineup and their acting was superb and good too especially Daniel Craig who are much more stronger in terms of its stunts compared to the previous episodes. It talks about computer hackers in this movie particularly revealing some secret British Agents and the bad guys are trying to assassinate them and kill them including M (the secret agents boss). The plot was outstanding and credits should also goes to Sam Mendes as well with the good storyline too. After watching 2 previous episodes, you will find this nothing special except the stunts which are getting better & better. A lot of mysteries to solve and how to overcome them is the tasks of James Bond this time and to kill the bad guys as well. I would still recommend you to watch this movie although I felt is a bit overrated but it's still a great movie to watch as well. If you are a fan of James Bond, this movie is right for you and do enjoy this movie. MY RATING: 4/5 ; KIMMY RATING: 5/5 

DVD Movie: Quantum Of Solace

Genre(s): Action, Crime and Mystery, Drama

Run Time: 105min

Subtitles: Chinese / Bahasa Melayu

Theatrical Release Date: 11/14/2008

DVD Release Date: 03/24/2009

Distributor(s): Sony

Director(s): Marc Forster

Starring: Daniel Craig , Olga Kurylenko , Mathieu Amalric , Judi Dench , Giancarlo Giannini

Synopsis:

A devastating betrayal sends James Bond from Australia to Italy and South America on a mission of vengeance that pits the suave super-spy against a powerful businessman with diabolical intentions. Betrayed by Vesper, 007 (Daniel Craig) suppresses the urge to make his latest mission personal as he teams with M (Judi Dench) to interrogate Mr. White (Jesper Christensen). It soon becomes apparent that the organization behind the blackmailing of Vesper is more powerful than Bond and M had previously anticipated, and after discovering forensic evidence that links an MI6 traitor to a bank in Haiti, Bond immediately sets out to gather more intelligence. Once in Haiti, a case of mistaken identity leads Bond into the company of the ravishing Camille (Olga Kurylenko), a dangerous beauty with her own vendetta. It's Camille who leads Bond to a ruthless businessman named Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), who is soon revealed to be the mastermind of a powerful but clandestine organization. Greene is conspiring to corner the market on one of the world's most precious natural resources, and in order to make that happen he has forged a deal with an exiled general named Medrano (Joaquin Cosio). By enlisting the aid of his many associates and using his vast resources to force contacts within the CIA and the British government into bending to his will, Greene plans to overthrow the current regime of a Latin American country and hand control over to General Medrano in exchange for a parcel of land that appears barren on the surface, but actually houses a natural resource that will make Greene the most powerful man on the planet. But Bond's mission to uncover the culprit who blackmailed Vesper and prevent Dominic Greene from exerting his will on the entire world won't be easy, because now everyone from the CIA to the terrorists and even M are out to get him.

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My Comments: Today I am at home getting ready to watch the Skyfall tomorrow and today I have some recap on some of Daniel Craig's (Bond) old movie which is Quantum Of Solace. I watch this movie is to specially countdown to the next Bond movie. Frankly speaking, I watch this movie before in 2008 but could not remember how this movie goes and today I watched it again. It was an action packed movie yet entertaining and lots of mystery to solve. The storyline is easy to understand and guess what is happening and Bond have to overcome a lot of mystery and consequences as he wanted to catch and kill the bad guy that setup Bond. Firstly it was hard to understand the storyline as there's a lot of character inside this movie but as it go along, you will be able to understand this movie and guess what is going to happen next till the ending. Daniel Craig performed very well in this movie including Judi Dench who had been acting in Bond movie for such a long time and does not dissapoints as well. No doubt, this movie is one of the best movie in 2008 and now in 2012, there it goes again. Anyway, before you watch Skyfall, you should treat yourself with this movie and get yourself warmed up before the next Bond movie. I would recommend you to watch this movie via DVD and enjoy yourself. MY RATING: 5/5

Cinema Movie: Hotel Transylvania

 

Release Date:27 Sep 2012

Release Date (2D):27 Sep 2012

Release Date (3D):27 Sep 2012

Language:English

Subtitle:Chinese / Malay

Genre:Comedy / Animation / Family

Running Time:91 minutes

Running Time (2D):91 minutes

Running Time (3D):91 minutes

Director: Genndy Tartakovsky

Cast: Selena Gomez, Adam Sandler, Fran Drescher, Kevin James, David Spade, Cee-Lo Green , Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, Andy Samberg 

 

Synopsis:

 

The last thing Simon Van Helsing, the youngest in a long line of monster hunters, wants to do is fall in love with Dracula's daughter, Mavis. Upon discovering that they are natural enemies, the doomed couple attempt to bring peace between the warring monsters and humans.  

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My Comments: It was a great Sunday evening as ME & Kimmy had eagerly planned for a movie outings after several weeks without a great entertainment for ourselves. Besides, we've also go for shopping and I manage to get something for myself and I am pretty happy with today's outings as well. We've managed to catch the movie Hotel Transylvania and it's almost going to end screening soon as it's already passed a month. This is an animation movie that was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and it's a rather funny and entertaining movie instead of a scary movie. The storyline is made for children and there's no logic at all in all circumstances and it's just for the kids potentially an early school holidays spree. Oh ya! This movie is also for the whole family to enjoy as well. It talks about a Dracula who owned a hotel and he only allowed the monsters to stay at the hotel as he and the monsters hatred the human race very much. Then one lucky humans manage to sneak into the hotel quietly and then what will happen? There's lots of jokes, fun and music for you to enjoy and I can assure that this movie will be not bored and you will just laugh off your seats as well. It's a good movie whilst you wanted to take a break to enjoy it yourself or with your family as well. There's some sad yet valuable scenes that we can cherish from this movie as well.Enjoy this fun filled movie. MY RATING: 4/5 ; KIMMY RATING: 5/5

 

 

DVD Movie: Men In Black III

Classification: P13
Genre: Action / Comedy / Science Fiction
Subtitles: Chinese / Malay
General Release Date: 24 May 2012
Running Time: 1 Hour 49 Minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing International
Cast: Will Smith, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Emma Thompson, Sharlto Copley, Alice Eve
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Synopsis:

In "Men in Black 3", Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back... in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K's life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him -- secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.

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My Comments: Today I am at home and planning to watch DVD on a long weekend. This time I have chosen Men In Black 3 as my choice of DVD movie this time around. As you know there are too many movies out in cinemas where we are unable to catch most of them unless you are very free and have nothing to do. Men In Black 3 is a very cool and adventurous movie and it talks about special mission to save planet world. Lead by famous singer and experience actor Will Smith, this movie is really a great movie to catch and you can apparently laugh out loud on this movie as well. The storyline is simple but it's packed with actions but just some mild actions that can be seen. It's not too offensive and the weapon they use to kill the enemy's is mostly the space guns. It was entertaining where the storyline goes like this where Will Smith try to save the Agents from dying and he must travel back in time to save the world. Can he do it? Overall, I would recommend you to get yourselves a DVD to watch this movie where once again it was fun and entertaining movie to catch and it's almost as nice as its previous Men In Black series. Enjoy! MY RATING: 5/5

Leisure: NEW BHPetrol Infinity Advance 2X....The Premium Fuel

Hi All,

Welcome back to yet another review of fuel / petrol brand in Malaysia and today I would love to review another new fuel that was introduced by yet another giant company in Malaysia. Introducing the new petrol from BHPetrol which is the Infinity Advance 2X..The Premium Fuel. Previously I was a happy BHPetrol customer and I am using this fuel all the way until now. I am very proud of BHPetrol as they came out another new petrol and they claimed that it would improved mileage and more power! Other petrol brands still would not satisfy me.

I've tried this new petrol since the day it launches at BHPetrol Sg. Kayu Ara and now it's my 3rd tank already. Frankly speaking, the previous petrol is really good as it's powerful and it clocked more mileage as compared to other petrol. Now with this new petrol, it's even more powerful and the mileage does not improve much and plus minus a few kilometers extra only. The main reason why BHPetrol is more powerful is because of the additives that causes the complete and perfect burning of the fuel on your car which never leave dirty deposits on your engine and in the same time it acts as a cleaning agents on your car. With all these, you will not need to step your pedal more and this would lead into saving petrol.

If you are still on other brands, do not hesitate to change your mind to BHPetrol and feel the power out from this petrol. You try it first and feedback to me. I would guarantee you there's changes if compared to other petrol brands in Malaysia. Here's the latest ranking of the petrol brands in Malaysia. Enjoy yourself a full tank of BHPetrol Infinity Advance 2X..The Premium Fuel. MY RATING: 5/5 (PERFECT)

For more information, please check out: BHPetrol Official Website

Latest Ranking Of Fuel Brands In Malaysia (From powerful to low power):

1.) BHPetrol Infinity Advance 2X (The Premium Petrol)
2.) Esso Synergy / Petron
3.) Caltex With Techron
4.) Petronas Primax Xtra
5.) Shell Fuelsave

Leisure: U Mobile

Dear All,

Welcome back to yet another product reviews from alexleow-kimmy.com. This time around I would like to review on one of the latest telecommunications company being setup at Malaysia. U Mobile Sdn Bhd is Malaysia’s newest 3G service provider and was founded in 1998 as MiTV Networks Sdn Bhd. U Mobile is a wholly owned subsidiary of U Television Sdn Bhd which was formerly known as U Telecom Media Holdings Sdn Bhd and MiTV Corporation Sdn Bhd. Utilising the 018 prefix allocated to the organisation by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), U Mobile seeks to enrich the lives of consumers by making communication, entertainment and information easily accessible through advance technology via one convenient, ubiquitous platform. In addition to offering mobile telephony and mobile data, U Mobile intends to be Malaysia’s first ever true mobile TV service provider with its Mobile LiveTV service that utilises internationally accepted Digital Video Broadcast – Handheld (DVB-H) technology. U Mobile targets to commence its mobile service and Mobile LiveTV user trial before the end of 2007. Based on Bloomberg's feed, KT Freetel, one of U Mobile's foreign investor, has announced that it is selling its 16.5% stake (62.6 million shares) to U Mobile’s major shareholder.

Now its headquarters is established at Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur and it was owned by Vincent Tan. Let me do a short review on U Mobile Coverage, Rates and it's Data Connection. Let's talk about the coverage of U Mobile. U Mobile is widely used in Malaysia and it has a wide coverage mainly in 3 states including the Klang Valley, Ipoh and Johor Bahru. In other states, U Mobile will used the Maxis coverage and it's also known as Domestic Roaming. Now you can roam in 3G as well. The coverage is not a problem and I would say it's stable and there's line almost everywhere in this 3 states else it will be domestic roaming. For call rates, it's not the cheapest for phone calls for all the plans but the most attractive comes from its data plan. For postpaid customers, you can select the package from RM28 onwards till RM88 with attractive data plan ranging from 1GB to 3GB. The calls per minute is between RM0.18 to RM0.20 respectively for all postpaid plan and it comes with a free calls up to 300 minutes. Please refer table below.

For prepaid plan, it's even more rewarding. Some great benefits can be found here where you can get free calls and SMS after you reload, 3X credit validity, free Facebook Credit for games, Free Roaming in Singapore and the best parts would be free calls to any U Mobile Numbers and you can subscribe to Unlimited Internet at either RM18 or RM28 with free calls and SMS as well. Now that's really rewarding isn't it.

For ME, I am currently using the prepaid plan where it was so lovely and a more flexible package that I can enjoy. I bough the SIM Card for RM8 and then topup RM50 and I get free calls to any U Mobile numbers for 50 days (from 12 midnight to 6.59pm daily) else RM0.03 per 30 seconds charging block from 7.00pm - 12 midnight. Besides I get 150 days of validity (RM50 x 3 = 150 days). How lovely isn't it. Even if you seldom make calls, it can lasts you for about 150 days before you need to topup. The best part is where it's even more rewarding and cheap where you can subscribe to Unlimited Internet for wither RM18 or RM28. I took the RM18 package which consists of 250MB quota data usage as well as 25 minutes free calls and 25 free SMS'es for 30 days. Now I can use this at my smartphone already. How cool was that? If you subscribe RM28 which consists of 500MB quota data usage as well as 100 minutes free calls and 30 free SMS'es for 30 days. The data connection meanwhile is good and super fast too with mostly HSDPA connection in the 3 major towns and good in domestic roaming. Do also checkout their broadband package at their website as well and the price is really cheap as well.

With the coolest data plan in town as well as it's the fastest mobile broadband in Malaysia with up to 42MBPS speed, I would say they are the best at the moment and I would strongly recommend you to port or change to U Mobile as it offers you more value not only for postpaid but for prepaid as well. The best part is it's value for money and cheap as well as it's affordable for everyone to use it too. Regarding the coverage it's not a problem and I would say it's nationwide coverage since they have domestic roaming with Maxis 2G and Maxis 3G if U Mobile is not available at the areas. It's the cheapest yet most affordable plan in Malaysia at the moment. Enjoy! MY RATING: 5/5

Please checkout U Mobile website by clicking here: U Mobile - Malaysia's Fastest Mobile Broadband, Free Calls & SMS