最后一次盛开

水向东流  时间怎么偷
花开就一次成熟  你却错过  

忽如一夜春风来  千树万树梨花开

明年此时  应该都看不见此景吧
为了兴建捷运  连停车场都得让路

A Moment of Silence ...

Our prime minister's press statement on MH 370:

This evening I was briefed by representatives from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). They informed me that Inmarsat, the UK company that provided the satellite data which indicated the northern and southern corridors, has been performing further calculations on the data. Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort, they have been able to shed more light on MH370′s flight path.

Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.

This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.

We will be holding a press conference tomorrow with further details. In the meantime, we wanted to inform you of this new development at the earliest opportunity. We share this information out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation.

Malaysia Airlines have already spoken to the families of the passengers and crew to inform them of this development. For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking; I know this news must be harder still. I urge the media to respect their privacy, and to allow them the space they need at this difficult time.

Since the plane disappeared, I've been wanting to write something about it but I just couldn't. Maybe I never will. 

Right now, my thoughts and prayers go to everyone affected by the incident. 

Artwork by adamsartfolio.tumblr.com

You Who Came from the Stars

[ SPOILER ALERT!: If you plan to watch the following drama and have yet to do so, please don't read any further or I'll spoil it for you! Now where's the fun in that? ]

Credits: SBS

Do Min-joon is an alien that landed on Earth in the year 1609 during the Joseon Dynasty. As his spaceship is broken, he is stranded on the planet for the next four centuries. He possesses a near-perfect appearance, enhanced physical abilities involving his vision, hearing and speed, and a cynical, jaded view regarding human beings. He meets a young girl whom he saves from death, but later on she gives her life saving him.

As time goes by, Min-joon is forced to take on a new identity every ten years, as his human appearance never ages.

In the present he works as a college professor and finds out that due to a comet coming in three months, he will be able to return to his home planet. In the meantime he accidentally meets famous actress Cheon Song-yi, the biggest Hallyu star in Korea, when she moves in next door to his luxurious apartment and also turns out to be attending his classes at college. Song-yi is an obnoxious, entitled attention seeker, someone who became a top star in her teens and never learned how to live a normal life. Min-joon finds out that Song-yi looks like the young girl he fell in love with in the Joseon era. He tries to keep himself away from her, as he needs to leave the planet.

However, Song-yi gets entangled in the dangerous game of Lee Jae-kyung, the elder brother of Hwi-kyung, who has been her friend since middle school and is in love with her. As Jae-kyung tries to silence Song-yi, Min-joon finds himself saving her multiple times and eventually the neighbours fall for each other. But Jae-kyung turns out to be much more dangerous than Min-joon suspected and he mysteriously also starts to lose control over his superpowers, making his only friend and confidant, Lawyer Jang worried about his life and return to space. - Source: Wikipedia

When the last two episodes of the Korean drama You Who Came from the Stars were released last week, my home's WiFi was cut off because we had fallen behind on our bills. The timing couldn't be worse, that's for sure, but staying off the Internet meant I wasn't impacted by the madness that followed the ending of the drama (in the form of fans venting their feelings on Facebook and other sites). I spent those WiFi-less times doing my assignment and studying for my mid-term exam (which was held this morning), so I had not much to complain about. I've just done watching the last four episodes today (as a post-exam treat for myself), and I think I'm ready to give the drama a review.

What I like about You Who Came from the Stars:

• The plot. Trust it to the Koreans to tell you unimaginably tragic love stories. Alien-human (or cross-species, for that matter) love story isn't exactly new though, but the writer managed to infuse history, pseudo-history, science, pseudo-science, fashion, family dynamics, philosophy and surprisingly, psychology into a 21-epsiode television series. At times serious, at times playful, the story is bound to earn your laughter as well as tears. The main plot and sub-plots raised some questions and addressed them all; I'm satisfied that there wasn't any unanswered question or lingering doubt. 
• Cheon Song-yi's character. Tough on the outside, soft in the inside, Song-yi is not your typical girl-next-door or damsel-in-distress. These days strong female characters seem to be the norm rather than the exception, but it takes a skillful writer and an experienced actress to build a strong yet convincing female lead. Kudos to Jun Ji-hyun for her admirable job in bringing out Song-yi's character fully: one moment Song-yi swings her way through life with reckless abandon, the next moment she thinks deep thoughts and speaks from the bottom of her heart. Song-yi is not only strong, sassy, witty and humourous but also fiercely loyal to and protective of her loved ones. Her character is written and acted in such a way that she is aggressive enough without being off-putting.
• Lee Hwi-kyung's character. In nearly all Korean dramas, the second male lead is destined to pursue but never attain the female lead, so most of the time he is sullen, spiteful and jealous. Hwi-kyung is a little different. He is obsessed about Song-yi and gets rejected every time he confesses to her, but he has this cheerful yet pragmatic disposition. Knowing that Song-yi would never love him, he still stuck by her and helped her out (always with a smile). I like the fact that he gently turned down Se-mi who secretly loved him for the past 15 years, refusing to put her in the predicament that he found himself in (the "friend-zone"). 
• The "bromances": Han-kyung/Hwi-kyung, Min-joon/Yoon-jae, Min-joon/Lawyer Jang. Hwi-kyung and his oldest brother Han-kyung got along very well, enjoying a rather close but short-lived relationship. I totally get Hwi-kyung's anguish when he learned that he unknowingly delivered poison-laced orange juice to his brother. That scene when it was revealed that Hwi-kyung still kept his brother's voice recording, replaying it by the river? Piercingly hurtful. Yoon-jae was initially cold to Min-joon, regarding him as another one of his sister Song-yi's long list of annoying suitors, but Yoon-jae's attitude drastically changed when he visited Min-joon's apartment and saw the telescopes Min-joon owned. I finally saw both of Min-joon and Yoon-jae's smiles when they discovered that they both shared a common interest in astronomy. Yoon-jae even called Min-joon "hyung" (older brother), following whatever advice or instruction his hyung gave. Min-joon's friendship with Lawyer Jang stretched back to three decades ago. Lawyer Jang accompanied and assisted Min-joon over the years e.g. fake death certificates, handle property issues, give advice, play chess, have lunch, etc. Lawyer Jung's tearful farewell with Min-joon was touching (though him asking to hold Min-joon's hand was rather bold).  
• Extra clips at the end of every episode. There were short videos at the end of each episode that provided an alternative point of view to that particular episode. Most of these were Min-joon's self-recorded video diaries, or Song-yi's interviews, and funny/sad moments that happened behind a character's back. This was a smart way to slip in additional information, and to end each episode on a gentle/impactful note (depending on that episode's general tone).
• The bloopers. Normally, I would find bloopers in movies as indicators of the cast and crew's lack of thoroughness. I mean, how could one be that unprofessional? However, I understand that the people on You Who Came from the Stars had been working tirelessly to deliver their work (even extending by one more episode to please the viewers). Seen in this light, the bloopers are excusable, and hey, aren't they funny to watch? A nice break from the emotional rollercoaster?
• The soundtrack. There were some pretty good songs to go with the scenes (like chicken and beer on the first day of snow, if you get what I mean). My current favourites are: My Destiny, In Front of Your House, 안녕(Hello/Goodbye), and Past Love. 
• Some quotes. There were a few one-liners and other lengthy quotes that struck a chord with me. I can't remember which ones exactly, but I think many other viewers would tend to agree with me that those quotes are incisive/realistic enough to be found or applied in our daily lives. Do keep an eye out for those little gems, if you're watching/re-watching the drama.

What I didn't like about You Who Came from the Stars:

• Kim Soo-hyun's portrayal of Do Min-joon (okay, some parts of it). We saw Min-joon's transformation from a cynical outsider who examined Earthlings with a curious scientific mind, to an emotional being torn between his love for Song-yi and his desire to go home. To me, Kim Soo-hyun didn't do as good as Jun Ji-hyun, maybe because his character was written so rigidly or he didn't have Jun Ji-hyun's extraordinary acting chops and experience. Or maybe aliens don't profess their feelings in general.

As you can see, I'm really biased in my review, but I have to clarify that I'm not an avid Stars fan. I didn't binge-watch (I took it slow) and wasn't functionally impaired by it. I simply love it, no big fuss. After all, it's the first time that I find a Korean TV drama cognitively and emotionally appealing. Conclusion? Definitely worth a re-watch (or many more)!