Music Obsession: November 2019

 

Its hard to imagine that I survived the crazy that was October and in a blur, we have arrived in November. Surprisingly, I find some really fun music to get through all of the crazy which is great because music is what keeps me alive in my downtime. I’m just going to jump right in. Some of this was found through some of the little events I went to during the past month, others are just randomly in Youtube when I had time to peruse my subscribed channels.

Let’s check it out!

Flip – Theo 朱正廷

Its no surprise that out of the nine members of Nine Percent, well, the ex-Nine Percent now, my favorite member ever since the Idol Producer show is Theo. He is a fantastic dancer and even when I watched him in the different variety and reality shows, he just has a great personality, so I’m happy to see him finally coming out with his own EP.

Senkyaku Banrai 千客万来 – Daoko & Miyavi (‘Diner’ Main Theme)

I watched Diner during Festival du Nouveau Cinema. You can find the review HERE. Its one of my top 5 films of the festival which pretty much tops the movies and a part of its style has to go to its great soundtrack. While I couldn’t find a ton of the music, I did find its main theme and its very awesome music video. The video is full of energy and a fantastic bridge part that just elevates the entire song even more. Its great!

Bomba – UNINE

As Nine Percent disbands to their separate path, 2019’s group to come out is UNINE from Season 2 of Idol Producer. While I didn’t finish the show and now its locked for iQiyi subscribers only (which I’ll get back to eventually), UNINE is a group that I’m seeing their members show up in different reality and variety shows lately so I looked a little more into their music. I can’t say that I think the members are as talented as Nine Percent but UNINE does have a nice balance of talent and Bomba is a pretty fun song while I was looking up their songs. Plus, they are just a few months old as a group so they still have time to put out more stuff.

Call of Heroes 危城 – Shin 信

We are going back a few years now to 2017 as I rediscover this song which I’ve never actually added onto my Favorite playlist on Youtube. Shin is a really great singer and as I watch him and his daughter in the Chinese variety show When I Grow Up currently, its actually made me want to revisit his music as he is incredibly talented. One of my favorite songs from him, other than the song that put him on the map, is this one.  A lot of high energy music this time but I’ve always been a fan of songs with the traditional Chinese music sort of flair mixed into it.

帥到分手 –周湯豪 Nick Chou

So..I fell out of the Taiwanese music scene for a while and as I start diving back in to catch up TV series and movies and such, I’m also obviously getting back to music and the most random find which just appeared on my Youtube suggestions was this song. Don’t know this singer, never heard of this song but it looked fun so I checked it out and its been just playing on repeat. I do have to say that some angles of him looks like Jackson Wang and his style reminds a lot of Alan Kuo. Apparently, I’ve missed some good stuff. I’m not sure if its the lyrics or the tune or the energy but its really good and once I catch up with some other stuff, I’ll be going back to hunt down more of Nick Chou’s songs.

都是你害的 All You Did – 畢書盡 Bii

In the whole Taiwanese drama catch-up phase and after a really fun conversation with my good friend visiting from out of town, I ended up FINALLY starting up Bromance which made me want to rediscover Bii who plays a supporting role in the drama. Bii actually is a pretty decent actor but he is a phenomenal singer. He writes his own songs and you can see the growth he has had from the first time that I listened to his music to now, which I have a pick of his for next month probably.

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!
What have been listening to lately?

What’s Up 2019: Week 41

Festival mode is back for this week’s recap! It was a busy week of a few things that came up and had to get added into the crowded to-do list, not to mention the other little things in the offline reality. Either way, I elevated the multitasking to a whole new level and here we are!!

READING

Currently reading: Hope by Terry Tyler

Deciding between writing festival reviews and reading has been the most part finding its own balance to make it all happen. Hope is luckily progressing well and probably still in the last push before the blog tour post needs to go up. It has an intriguing plot and setting and for the most part, its not the lack of a good plot thats stopping me from being more on track on the whole reading front.

PLAYING

• A Life In Music

Having finished this free mobile game just recently, nothing is in progress. A Life In Music is categorized as an educational game which looks at Italian Opera as well as meshing in a story about two strangers who meet spontaneously and separate as they follow their passions. Mixing visual novel story telling with a little rhythm is quite a nice little twist. I’m playing some more of the long form mobile games lately to clear out some of the downloaded games on my phone to eventually delete and free up some space.

WATCHING

• Adam Devine: Best Time of Our Lives
• The Ranger (2018)
• Little Joe (2019, Review)
• Evil Dead (1981 rewatch, Review)
• Evil Dead II (1987 rewatch, Review)
• Army of Darkness (1992 rewatch, Review)
• Color Out of Space (2019, Review)
• Family Romance LLC (2019, Review)
• Evil Dead (2013, Review)
• Diner (2019, Review)
• Adoration (2019)

Kicking off the week with the Netflix stand-up comedy by Adam Devine which was better than I expected and then being called up as the backup for The Lambcast podcast for The Evil Dead franchise brought on a sudden rewatching to add into the schedule while managing to shift my Festival du Nouveau Cinema to make it all work out. Its been a busy first few days trying to make the most of the long Thanksgiving weekend. Clocking in 5 movies at FNC 2019, the standout film for this week goes to Diner which is the movie I’d foresee myself gladly rewatching  and having a blast every single time although Color Out of Space definitely has its really great elements also.

BINGING

Currently binging: When I Grow Up, Relation Ship, Dream Space 2, Well-intended Love, Soft Memory

Nothing is quite finished this week. Between these currently binging ones, Netflix series Well-Intended Love is nearly done although definitely nothing too crazy and might have gone a little long. I’m not sure yet as I’m in the final few episodes. Mango TV’s Dream Space 2 is also reaching its final episode in the next week so that will wrap up soon as well. The newly started one is Soft Memory currently on Tencent (available on Youtube), its alright right now but I’m having some logical issues with some of the plot. I’m only 4 episodes in so who knows how it will go!

That’s it for this What’s Up!
What have you been reading/playing/watching/binging?

FNC 2019: Diner (2019)

Diner (2019)

Director: Mika Ninagawa

Cast: Tina Tamashiro, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kubota Masataka, Hongo Kanata, Okuda Eiji, Maya Miki, Anna Tsuchiya

Kanako Oba uses a mysterious site to apply for part-time work. As a result, her life is soon in jeopardy. She is forced to work at the restaurant Diner as a waitress or she will be killed. The restaurant is membership only and their customers are all contract killers. – MyDramaList

If John Wick’s elite assassin world was moved to a diner exclusively crafted to serve their culinary needs with experiences specific for their business and and pleasure with the Japanese over the top flair, this is what Mika Ninagawa’s Diner would best relate to. Engulfing its scenes by flamboyantly dangerous characters, techno, punk and classical background music to pair with its scenes and constrasting sharp color palettes in a dark underground setting, its a feast for for the senses on many levels.

Mika Ninagawa’s vision for Diner is visually stunning. From its pink lettered neon lettering to its stylistic introduction for each characters and its choice of how each of them interact with the female lead, Kanako Oba (Tina Tamashiro). There’s a lot of style and substance in Diner from how the culinary experience is shown to the different over the top meals are done to the reactions as well as how the action scenes are done. It has a lot of the fun and over the top elements of Japanese films that add a certain level of weird but fun especially when matched with the different killer and the rooms they eat in, each matching the killers personality.

Talking about character designs now, the main story revolves around Kanako Oba where Tina Tamashiro does a lovely job at playing this quiet and shy girl whose life is mostly summarized in the opening scene rather uniquely blending with its background music, which honestly sets the tone for what to expect, and tackles the main issue of her shyness and unknown desire of what to do in life because she feels unwanted until she sees a colorful picture of Guanajuato that makes her try to find a way to get money to go. In terms of character design and possibly development, her character is the focal point and also the most developed throughout this story. However, opposite her is male lead playing the Diner owner and head chef also an ex-elite assassin, Bombero (Tatsuya Fujiwara) who is very tough on her because those preceding her have died due to the dangerous clientele. Bombero is a fun character mostly because he has this subtlety to his character that relies a lot on his observation and what he does but then also has this loneliness that he closes himself off to because of the company he keeps.

Flamboyant characters are a center of Japanese films when it comes to over the top elements and here, the assassins themselves, as shallow as their characters are with not a lot of back story to work with, are perfectly suited to simply push the story forward and give those little hurdles or connections with Kanako Oba to surprise and frighten her in this new setting. It all works up to the point that every killer has a weakness and tipping point and it all leads to the final dinner where it discusses the decision of change of crime lord that runs the Yakuza entirely which of course, doesn’t run smoothly and has some crazy action sequence. Of course, there are a few selected assassins that get a little more screen time than others and one of them called Skin (Masataka Kubota) really takes his role and runs with it in such an impressive way.

Diner is a really entertaining sort of film. While the culinary element might be done a little more to fit a culinary experience title, there is still a lot of impressive balance between the crime thriller and the whole setting in a diner. Its a straightforward story and not hard to imagine where all this leads but keeps it on the fun level. Most of its characters are fairly shallow in development and yet, due the film’s length and staying on path, they achieve what the film needs to set up these main characters to deal with this final group. The action scenes are well choreographed and there’s some ridiculous moments, not to mention the ending result is a bit of a headscratcher logically, however, somehow because of the over the top elements in Japanese films, anything is possible so its easy to let it pass.

Diner has a second screening during Festival du Nouveau Cinema on October 15th at 8:35pm at Cinema du Parc. You can find more info HERE.

Brunch: Foiegwa (Montreal, Canada)

Another weekend out. One of my awesome friends took me out for a belated birthday brunch as he always does every year. This year, we went to try out Foiegwa which is a diner/restaurant located near the Atwater Market in Montreal. Its in a pretty convenient location and we’ve never been before.

Let’s check it out!

FOIEGWA

Menu

Tea

Not my usual green tea but they did have the selection although they had run out of the green so I took Early Grey instead. Black tea isn’t my favorite but this one was pretty good.

Meals

Ham Omelet

Chicken and Waffles

Ham omelet was my meal. I broke out of the normal two eggs and whatever side which is my usual go-to. I do like ham quite a bit but I don’t eat it a lot. The omelet was really good with a good balance of seasoning. There was an apple chutney of sorts which tasted pretty good. The potato wedges were also very tasty.

My friend had the Chicken and Waffles. The chicken looked moist and he said it was. His feedback was that the meal itself was good, both the chicken and waffles. However, he would have liked to have the maple syrup on the side instead so that he could be the judge of how much to put on it.

Overall, the service was decent. It is a small joint and pretty busy on the weekends so do expect a wait. I don’t mind waiting for good food so that wasn’t an issue. The place is convenient and the food was good. The parking is a little harder and really relies on your luck but we were also lucky so everything worked out for us. I definitely recommend this place. The menu is quite extensive and I’d definitely go back to try out something else there when I have time.

Chesterfield’s Gastro Diner (Ottawa, Canada)

Lots of eating posts lately, eh? Expect a few more! Actually this one is rather timely!

While I normally would be sitting at home on the last weekend of NaNoWriMo doing word sprints and just in small, writing till my wrists hurt and ending this thing, I’ve been oddly relaxed about the whole thing. I’ll talk about it further in the recap post whether I finish it or not. However, I ended up having a little brunch date with a friend! It was a fantastic day where I drove two hours in the morning to get to her place, had a little time to hang out before heading out to breakfast at this little joint she took me to called Chesterfield’s Gastro Diner.

Chesterfield’s Gastro Diner

Chesterfield’s Gastro Diner is definitely a little cozy joint. There aren’t a whole lot of seating and it was bustling with line-ups at the front door. We ended up waiting for maybe about fifteen to twenty minutes before getting a seat, which is pretty good. The kitchen is open in the middle and you can see the chefs and staff walking around doing their stuff. The seating is pretty original with odd pieces of one thing or another to sit on. Some look like rather rustic yet elegant pieces but with some antique-ish feeling to them. The waitress we had was friendly and the service was pretty fast.

Tea

They had a pretty nice selection of tea choices. I took the green tea. It isn’t any fancy brand but it was a good tasting one. What I’d like to show here is the cute little tea cups and the tea pot that they used. It has a pretty older style to it.

Breakfast/Brunch Meals

Traditional: Two Eggs (over easy) with bacon and a side of roasted beets

Classic Benny’s with a side of roasted beets and pita chips

I took the traditional eggs since I wasn’t too hungry and can’t be too full to head back on the road later on. Mine actually also comes with toast and homemade jam. I have to say that the jam is pretty good. The flavor was raspberry. My friend took the classic benedict which came with two sides. She told me about how this was super delicious even before she ordered it. Unfortunately, hollandaise sauce, I believe, has milk so its a big nono for me. (I’ll have to research that later on.)

Overall, a pretty nice little breakfast joint. I’d recommend a visit. The menu is pretty extensive unexpectedly and I’d probably eventually come back to give something else a try. However, maybe earlier hours going would be better than when we went at busy breakfast/brunch time on the weekend. Still, we had a nice chat and it was a delicious meal and the portions were great.

Restaurant Review: Henry’s Diner in Burlington, Vermont

I didn’t really research any restaurants before I left for Burlington with the girls.  All I knew was that I was in for a fun and relaxing weekend and left it up to my awesome friends.  Of course, they did their homework and they also knew what they wanted to do.  One of them gave me a heads up that she wanted to go eat at a diner.  I’m alright with that.  I’ve never eaten at a true American diner.  She suggested to this one, which is really close to our hotel, relatively speaking, its like in our backyard.  Of course, the main reason wasn’t how close it was, she told me that apparently former US president Bill Clinton, while he was campaigning in Vermont, ate there every day. How’s that for a fun fact? I never double checked that fact so if its wrong, its not intentional, feel free to correct me.

So after we went back to the hotel after Panera Bread, we found everyone awake and functional, so we decided to head over to grab our brunch.  *ahem* I already told you that this trip was about pigging out.  We also use these meals to figure out the plans for the day.  Henry’s Diner had a wait time of about 5-10 minutes where we had to wait outside and enjoy the nice spring weather (which was lacking in Montreal).  During this time, we stood and looked at the  Easter Weekend Menu.

After we sat down, we had a bit more time to reflect on the menu to see what we wanted while observing the size of the plates. I decided to order Vermont country ham.

Vermont Country Ham

 Other than not really digging the potatoes, this plate was totally delicious.  I managed to eat everything and was super full from it. If there was just two bone in hams pieces, then it would have bit a lot more manageable 🙂 Still, it was really good!

Crabby morning eggs benedict

One of the girls took this and this one has crab cakes under the eggs.  The only issue she had was that the poached eggs aren’t supposed to be runny but these were a bit undercooked.  However, there were no other complaints so I assume it was alright. A very original take to a traditional dish, I’d say, no? Or do other breakfast places do this?

Next up, one of the girls got a lighter meal which was waffles with two sausage patties.  No complaints here either and I think, the sausage patties were a new experience for her, which is always fun 🙂

Veggie Omelet

Looks delicious, right? I think my friend who took this enjoyed it.  Although we were all hitting our threshold for over eating.. haha!

We almost wanted to come back for another meal.  Henry’s Diner is extremely delicious. The service was pretty decent and the wait time wasn’t too long.  Its a cute little diner and I found it fun.  The first place that made me want to test out my self-portrait function with my phone while waiting for the food.

Do you have any cool diners near your place? Suggest away! It’ll give me new travel ideas 🙂

This really makes me think about checking out all those cool places that Guy Fieri checks out in his show that we were watching on this trip..haha!