Zettai Kareshi + SP

 

Synopsis:

Robot maker, Kronos Heaven, finally develops "Tenjo Night", the perfect male humanoid programmed to be devoted and completely loyal to his lover. The company chooses temp worker Izawa Riko to take part in a 5-day free trial. At first, Riko only sees Night as a household appliance. But when she finds out how deep Night's devotion to herself is, Riko finds herself falling in love with him. Joining the love triangle is Asamoto Soshi, a distinguished young executive at her company who has feelings for her. --Fuji TV

The SP took place 3 years after the TV series. Riko and Soshi completed their Paris studies and were summoned back to aid the declining Asamoto group. Unexpectedly, Tenjo Night came back alive after previously declared irrepairable by its creator.

My opinion:

It is a very (bitter) sweet romance comedy. My friends told me that I would cry buckets watching this and I expected good stuff. I was disappointed initally. The first part where it really touched me was when Riko decided to purchase Night as she realised that he was special. The next touching part is the episode with Riko's parents. Oh well, parent-child relationship is always a good tear-jerker for me. Still there is no major "cry me a river" moment. 

I like the way they add in Riko's culinary dream as well as Asamoto and Kronos Heaven business goals to provide the backbone of the storyline and major conflict plots. I expected the conflicts to resolve around Night-Riko-Soshi love triangle. And when they introduced Soshi's ex-girlfriend, I expected another love triangle. However, it is not the case. The love story presented here is really touch and sacrificial. The characters here mostly hide their feelings because they continuously think that the other party is together with someone else. It is very nice everyone can work together and get along despite this complicated relationship. And this is the reason I hate Mika. She is the seemingly only "villainous" character here out of her jealousy towards Riko. It is old and cheesy to use 'my enemy is my best friend' kind of plot. Even though in the end she sorted things out with Riko, I still think it was unnecessary to make her bad initially just to introduce some conflicts.

Hayami Mokomichi played his robotic character very very excellently. His movement, his facial expresison, and the way he speaks are very robot-like. I am amazed that he can keep a straight face while doing stupid things and saying stupid words. Riko is an unbelievably nice and positive girl: something good to see in TV but something non-existant in real life. Lol. Unfortunately, I came across the actress from Buzzer Beater first and overthere she played as the cheating and jealous ex-girlfriend. So it is just hard for me to see her acting all good here :p Soshi's role is just too serious and restrictive for Mizushima Hiro. I am entertained by his carefree and crazy roles in other series. Even though he is good here, I just think Soshi's character does not allow him to really use his crazy charms haha.. Unexpectedly, Soshi's ex-girlfriend is a very like-able character (which ex-girlfriends have been portrayed good on TV?). While she still wants him, she realised that she missed her chance. Now Soshi loves Riko and hence she gave him support not to repeat her mistake: to miss the chance. And despite being cooking rival with Riko, she is all good and friendly towards her. Another unexpected character is Namikiri-san, the creator to the robot. He adds into the hilarity and has a suprisingly important portion in the story. Lastly, I love Maya Miki as the motherly figure for Riko here. Hehe..

The ending is perfect. A bit spoiler here but Night realised that he is a robot and for the sake of his Riko, he knows that it is best for her to be with another human a.k.a Soshi. It is still sad to see him "dead" in the end but it is a good ending for Riko to get over her love over a machine for a real human. 

However, near the ending, the idea about the robot gaining emotion and becoming more human-like, the idea about a human is loving a robot, and the ethical question whether it is okay to dismantle the robot after he gains his own free will are just getting too bizarre.

Unfortunately, the SP screws everything up. It is a big mess. I have no idea how this Dr Kamiya suddenly comes into the picture. For no reason she is damn smart and can 'repair' Night whom even the creator cannot do anything about it. It is also crazy to throw in the US military secret as her sub-plot. Utter rubbish and nonsense. Apparently Dr Kamiya tried to replace his dead boyfriend with a robot who looks exactly like him. Eventually the robot told her to move on bla bla bla. So the whole thing about Dr Kamiya is just to give Night the inspiration from that other robot: should let human with human. Bleah.. There are other unfinished plot such as Asamoto's new shop under Soshi and Riko. The idea about the food and the business are just like thrown out of the window. So yeah, it looks like Japanese dorama SPs always screw up the good ground produced by the preceeding TV doramas sia..

My afterthoughts:

As much as I thought it was weird for Riko to fall for a robot, I actually would not mid to have one if such robot exists in the future. I mean come on, the robot is so nice and can be your second source of income. It looks and acts just like other human minus away all the negatives. And it is a scary thought! I am at an age in which I should start thinking about having a relationship and start a family. But how and when :( People tell me that I am thinking too much. Sometimes I do think too much that people deserve someone better other than me :( Or what to talk about if I have to talk everyday to this girlfriend? And what if after sometime then I got bored.. Sigh.. at this rate, perhaps I need someone to matchmake me or I need the girl to actually take the first step.. Aaargh...

And thinking about passion, after start working, I really think that I like to teach :( Haiz.. If really cannot, I hope I can be as "lucky" as Riko. She is initially working as office lady but thanks to her boss, she had the chance to bake cakes and eventually had a go at her dream of being a Pattisier. I hope that even though I am stuck doing what I don't really like to do now, perhaps someone would offer me to teach/lecture as a part-time initially and after that going full-time there.. With God, there is nothing impossible!!! Lol..

9th year

I have spent more than 1/3 of my life here and yet I can't help to wonder what I could be and where I would be if on this day 9 years ago, I decided to act childishly and refused to be shipped to a foreign land. Of course everything has its own plus and minus points and it is foolish to think "what ifs" and "what could be" instead of focusing the "present".

Anyway I am tired of listing the + and - of coming here. Overall, my feeling does not change. I am unhappy :( But there is one thing that makes all this shit feelings good: if I never come here, I would never be a Catholic. And for that, I really should be thankful. Although ironically, lately I am getting lazier and lazier to attend mass. Sigh..

Still, every year, 28 October remains a day to celebrate. For this year, I went to watch The Three Musketeers. It was rated 1.5stars in the newspaper yesterday so I knew I would be watching shit. Haha.. I love women doing action stunts and so sad that Milady's action was only that little :( The guys' swordplay is boring. The story does not make sense. How on earth there were airships in the mid-18th century o_0 But still, I love the cinematography especially the airships part. It is sort of Final Fantasy coming into life. Haha.. Well, a waste of $10.50. I am interested in Tintin and Twilight next. Lol!

I also took advantage of Kinokuniya 20% sale with xxxHolic official guidebook and Full Metal Alchemist Illustration Book Volume 2. I never quite understand xxxHolic story so this English version is a must buy. I did not buy it last week because it was the last copy and its packaging was kinda ripped. Today they changed the outer wrap but I bought it even though it was still the same copy which I refused to buy the week before. Bleah.. The Full Metal Alchemist book is my very first US-version artbook. I am not a big fan of FMA. I bought the pirated version of the first illustration book. Then I bought the Japanese version of the third volume, only to realised that they actually make a good collection. Too bad it was too late to find the second volume. Gotta be happy with this US-version.

And it seems that I need to see doctor soon because I am having itch all over my body. Sigh.. After 2 weeks using hydrocortisone cream and cetirizine, the initial itch and rash do not improve. And now I am feeling the itch everywhere :( What happen to me?? :(

Roller coaster

As promised, I shall write about the rehab products training and acne talk I attended in the past 2 days.

Rehab product training

The training was held at the showroom somewhere in Ubi. The items were divided mainly to 4 categories: beds, walking aids, wheelchairs, and toiletries. 

Now I know where usually hospitals get their beds. Haha.. It was a surprise to learn that there are actually mattresses designed to reduce pressure sores. The mattresses are kinda like airbags but when you don't feel the bumps when you lie down. However, you can feel the bumps causing a bit of imbalance when you sit on it. There are 2 kinds of mechanisms too. First, the mattress is made up of a series of air-filled tubes. The tubes have alternating air pressure and the air pressure will switch automatically every 8-10mins. Isn't it cool!! The second type is quite hard to describe. I liken it to a honeycomb configuration and the air pressure is also alternating for adjacent boxes. However, the air pressure between the boxes will not switch automatically.

The toiletries are kinda boring. I only learn that "comote" simply means the chair-like toilet bowl. My grandma has one and I always wonder what is under the thing. Actually it is just simply a bucket. Lol.. The bucket can be removed to clear the content. Some comotes can actually be pushed on top of toilet bowl so that the person can basically sit on the comote but expel their stuff to the toilet bowl instead of the bucket.

The walking aids section help to straighten some of my misunderstandings. Walking stick is to be held in the stronger side so that patient is able to grip it. I always thought that walking stick is to support the weak side because what's the point in supporting the already strong side.. Now I know I am wrong. Another misunderstanding is regarding crutches and elbow support. They are meant to be used in pairs! So no such thing as to support the weak side or strong side. I also learn about measurements. For walking stick, place the stick about 2 inches away from feet and the handle should be in wrist level. For crutches and elbow support, place the stick 6 inches away and the grip should also be in wrist level. And I learn that there is a difference in the purpose of crutches and elbow support. Crutches are meant for people who cannot bear weight on one leg (eg. post surgery, fracture). Elbow support is for people who can bear weight but has no strength to support the full weight (eg. patient with polio or legs disabilities).

The most interesting section is the wheelchairs. It is cool to see the various motorised wheelchair although I was disappointed that there was no offer to try one. Haha.. The most interesting thing is this device to allow wheelchairs climb staircases. Basically you mount the wheelchair to the device and the device will move (the base is like a roller mechanism, not wheels) up/down the steps while the wheelchair remains stationary. Wow! The demonstrator asked me to sit on the wheelchair and to try move the wheelchair down a staircase. It was damn freaking scary! Haha.. It felt like riding a roller coaster (I never rode one) and that was only from being pushed to the stair. Before he pushed down, he discovered that the wheelchair had not been secured to the device. OMG! That means I almost died!! Haha.. After that I felt so insecure about the device o_0

So yeah that was Friday...

Acne talk

I felt cheated for this! Due to mishearing on my part, I thought it was compulsory so I signed up -__- My only consolation was the hope of good food which was also NOT the case. The food sucks. The goodie bags are okay. I ran out of my acne cream (benzoyl peroxide 5%) and now I got 2 tubes of 4%. I wonder whether it would work if even with 5% I find it useless. Sigh.. I was hoping to get the sample of the one containing the medicine leh!! Haha..

Anyway, there was a LOT to learn. So I guess it was worth it to attend. Firstly, I learnt that there are more mechanisms to explain acne. Some hormones involved are androgens, growth hormones, and stress hormones. The androgens isn't really major since both males and females are equally affected by acne. The growth hormones explain that usually acne is self-limiting post-puberty as growoth hormones drop. Since I am still having lots of acne, that means I still have plenty of the hormones. Too bad they only help me grow sideways :'( And the stress hormones are kinda self-explanatory. 

Secondly, I learnt about some explanation regarding correlation between food and acne. The speaker took milk as an example. The poor cows are usually milked after delivery. Then the cows are impregnated again. While pregnant, they are continuously milked until 1 month before the next delivery. That explains why milk contains lots of androgens. I drink milk everyday and perhaps that's why :( There is some relation with insulin receptors too and that's why eating a lot of sweet stuff (perhaps that explains chocolates and desserts) also may trigger acne.

Lastly is about the treatment. I am surprised that topical retinoids are actually sort of the first line. I always thought benzoyl peroxide as the first line, then antibiotics, the retinoids. The "in" thing right now is to use combination of topical preparation. Hmm hmm.. I remember last time I told a patient who asked whether she needed benzoyl peroxide if she was already using differin gel. I told her no need. Ouch!! My thinking was since she was already on the potent one, can forget about lousy benzoyl peroxide. LOL. And this talk changed my perception with regards to benzoyl peroxide. It is actually a very good substance as bacteria do not become resistant to it. Besides being anti-microbial itself, it can actually help to reduce antibiotic resistance when used together with antibiotic. Cool eh?? 

And I met my preceptor from 2 years ago during the talk. It was nice to catch up with her. 

And after catching up with my friend in hospital, I cannot emphasize how lucky and blessed I am to be in community. I just hate their mentality and preference in training. No offence to anybody but I think seniors/teachers/preceptors should:

1) Expect their juniors/students/preceptees to be dumb/stupid/don't know anything (but that does not mean looking down on them)

Seriously don't assume "you should know this and that". They are there to learn from you. If they are already smart and they know everything, then they don't need you anymore. Jeez.. Looks like what they do in hospitals are just breeding the culture of bullying and scolding the newbies. With that, the only thing being taught is arrogance and other bad examples for future generations.

2) Not expect juniors/students/preceptees to know something if you never tell them previously.

I can't help but hate the culture of "read yourself" or "go find out yourself". If I can read and find out things myself, then I don't need you in the first place -> refer to point number 1.

3) Not scold (no matter how stressed you are). If you happen to scold them, apologise at least.

Newcomers definitely will do mistake. You have been doing the same thing for god-knows-how long and how you expect these new people to be as good as you. Jeez.. Scolding them makes them more nervous and they will do more mistake. Scolding them is scaring them from asking you questions/help when they are unsure about things next time and that's when more mistakes happen. Of course if you have told them previously, you have the right to "remind" them but not "scold".

4) Remember the days when you were still a junior/student/preceptee

In the past, you were also blur. You also did not know anything. You also forgot things. You made mistakes. You also needed to be told many times before eventually you got the hang of things. So now, give your juniors/students/preceptees the time needed (vary from people to people) for them to eventually get the hang of things.

On the flip-side, from the stories I hear, sometimes the juniors/students/preceptees are in the wrong. Never do or say something that you are not sure of. Always ask if unsure. Although this can be quite tricky if you are sure of the wrong thing (like what I do sometimes). But well, sometimes have to find out why people don't ask or clarify things. Do they try to "act big and know it all" or are they too scared because of the seniors will scold and look down?

For now, I am thankful for the place I am in :D

2 weeks without blogging.. WEW!! My goodness.. Haha..

I just finished my rotation last week (yay!). It was as boring as expected but thank goodness that it was not as bad as expected. I kinda like doing medication review although at times it feels more like a teacher marking student's homework, to find what is wrong and what is lacking. However, because it was at nursing homes, sometimes I wonder whether it is useful to really intervene when it comes to recommendation of adding new drugs. I mean most of these people are near the end of life already so I wonder whether the additional drugs will just be pill burdens. To be frank, what's the point of extending life just to suffer and live a sad life alone in nursing homes? But that is just my opinion lah.

From this rotation, I learnt that my communication skills in doing a short-but-sweet invervention suck! Haha.. Oh well =x I prefer to the outpatient where everything is more fast-paced. Just skype or call the doctor straight away and no need to think about how to beautify the sentences bah. Well no matter what, my feelings don't change. I still prefer outpatient setting. I want to talk to people who are capable to listen to me (even if they scold me as the down side of this choice). In fact, I feel a bit irritated when I dispense to very old people or people with certain disabilities. Not because they are old or disabled but because I don't know whether they actually understand what I am talking about.

My sister visited Singapore over the last weekend. As usual I brought her to sightsee. I was stunned to see myself in the photo because my face looks weird.. No wonder people are telling me that I am losing weight. My face looks elongated now. Not sure whether I should be happy or sad haha..  Accompanying her shopping means tempting myself :p I bought a cute squirrel plushie at Bugis. Haha.. I was contemplating whether to buy or not and my sister kept teasing me "Just buy la.. Look at the face. It is calling you to take pity and buy it!" Lol. Anyway I like to collect cute animals so since I don't have squirrel-shaped plushie before, I bought this. It is even bigger than my Hamtaro and I cannot put it inside the largest ziplock I can find :( Photos are coming, perhaps, in the far future. Lol..

I am a bit emo over the new gundam models. Haiz.. I have a complete collection of Gundam Wing High Grade models. Now they come out with the Master Grade sigh :( For each, it is about 2x of the the High Grade model. But the details are much nicer!! I am extremely tempted because it even has the pilot and the cockpit incorporated into the robot!! The finishing also looks sleeker. The High Grade models has a cheap plastic look with stickers all over :( Cost is not really an issue :( The issue is: my cupboard is already full and there is no way I can put in any more Gundam models :( Even my new action figures I don't know how already :(

My toy cupboard is full liao ;'(

At Kinokuniya, I am tempted to buy xxxHolic guide book (US version). I am not a big fan of it but I am completely lost about the story. Lol. Perhaps by reading this guide, I can appreciate the story better. I am also surprised that some US publishers are reprinting old titles such as Sailor Moon (!!) and Magic Knight Rayearth!! Aaah so sad.. Last time I only bought the Magic Knight Rayearth 2 book 2-4 :( Not worth it to buy now la haha.. This weekend Kino has 20% discount for members. Unfortunately, only 1 xxxHolic book left and it was opened. So I did not buy. Haiz.. Bugis did not have it and it looks like I have to go to Liang Court next Friday. The crowd today was crazy. I cannot imagine how the crowd be next week when the 20% discount is extended for public. Geez..

That's all for today. I will write again tomorrow about work related stuff haha.. Yesterday I had interesting experience with the rehab equipments and today I had a pretty interesting talk on Acne :p

Amazing Race

The Amazing Race perhaps is the only TV reality show which is the most awesome to me. Although awesome does not necessarily mean I am following it =x I just watched episode 2 and 3 of the latest season 19 because they went to Indonesia! Wow cool! Really amazing to see them do crazy things which I never even did as an Indonesian. Haha..

One great thing about the show is the travelling part. It is so nice to be able to "travel" around the world and "immerse" myself in the traditional activities associated with each location. The more lovely part, however, is the lessons and realities of life that it presents. I find that most of the things happen due to fate or luck. Bad things happen to everyone like dropping their clues, not reading the clues properly and have to re-do the task, getting tired and frustated and lost, quarrel with your team mate, make new allies or make new enemies etc.  You can be the first from the last and vice versa.

The team who came top 3 in the episode 2 happened to be lucky too. Or rather, more alert to read instruction. The earlier teams did not read the instruction carefully and had to go back and do the things they missed. 

In episode 3, one team had their taxi broke down in the middle of the journey so they had to run 1km to Borobudur. In the end, they caught up with everyone as this became a blessing in disguise. They needed not to go back to the taxi to pick up their bags or paid their fares and could directly proceed to the pitstop. Some other teams with taxi ended up wasting time because of losing their way to the exit. Similarly, the team who came first ended up in second place because of 15 minutes time penalty. They did not read the clues well enough in the previous task and got the 15 minutes penalty.

It's life, isn't it? Play by the rule. Things change so fast and are not always according to our plans. We may get frustrated over something but in the future we may realise that it somehow helped us. Sometimes we feel so high up on the air only to have everything bad happening in the next moment. But the most touching part of the show is always to see their effort and determination. I find that most of them came last out of sheer bad luck and not because they are not trying hard enough. And that's why all who got eliminated would feel damn sad because they had put their best effort, felt very tired, and had to go home. But still, they were satisfied and that is a proof that they did try their best.

The last season I was following was the time when I had a mother-son favourite. Haha.. Usually I always love the dynamics of elderly couples or the parent-child teams. For this season, I hope the Grandparents couple can do well. I am happy to see how they are always being positive (and in episode 3, it was quite poor thing that the Grandma fell 5x on the rice field.. ouch!). There is a father-son team but I like the dynamic of the mother-son team from the season-number-what better.

iPhone For Ass(es)

4 October

I am never a fan of Apple but this time I was quite excited to await the news about the latest iPhone release. With all the hype and speculation regarding iPhone 5, I believed that there was equal chance for either iPhone 4GS or iPhone 5 to be released. Instead of iPhone 4GS, it is called iPhone 4S (read: iPhone for ass). Kinda expected the dual core system so I thought it was quite a huge upgrade and deserved to be called iPhone 5. Despite the upgrades (dual core, 8mp camera, the kinda useless voice command Siri thingy), it looks exactly like an iPhone 4 and hence it is not considered a newer generation which deserves a '5' on it.

I hope this deters people from buying. With that, I may consider buying. Price is one thing. The other thing which makes me not really interested in getting iPhone is that more than half of the people here are using it! It is sort of -__- when everyone else around you on a bus or on a train is also playing their iPhone. Sorry.. no matter how premium the price is, it still feels like a phone for the mass and that makes it feel rather cheapo.

5 October

This is an unrelated, but equally, shocking news: Steve Jobs died today. Everyone knows that he is battling a rare form of pancreatic cancer and it is just a matter of time. It is so unfortunate that that time came 1 day after the big announcement from the company which is synonymous with him. Some people joked around that iPhone 4S is just crap and he died after hearing that the new iPhone is just "like that".

Anyway, I don't really care. To me he is just another human being. Yes he may revolutionise the use (and marketing) of devices which were present but not popular previously. As genius and creative as he is, unfortunately, to me he is just another money-sucking businessman. The price tags of his items are just exhorbitant. And it is kinda "ewww" to market the items as "premium items which deserve premium prices". Well the rich can do whatever they like with their money. But for me, it is kinda lame to pay for a phone, a computer, or a music player for 2x or 3x more than those from other brands. A phone is a phone. A computer is a computer. An mp3 player is an mp3 player. A brand is a brand. How good can a phone be which deserves to be priced 2-3x more than a similar phone? Oh well let the smart alecks with powerful vision, sense of touch and sense of time who can differentiate the significance of the different megapixels and displays, the different types of touch screens, as well as the the few milliseconds faster processing.

But who cares, I am just a tech noob. I just want something which can function according to what I need at the cheapest price. So Apple stuff is just not for me.

Looking at this event, it made me feel quite sad about this life. Steve Jobs made lots of money but in the end, that cannot buy him health and life. I feel very sian working now. Days change to weeks to months to years. Before I know, it is time for me to spend the hard-earned money for declining health and then for funeral. What's the point of living if I cannot even enjoy it? Sigh...

Anyhow, if only Apple items are more reasonably priced and hence are more affordable to many more people, Steve Jobs may be held more dearly by many more people. For now, only the certain "elites" who are crazy over his "premium" items would care about him.

Feast Days

I was too tired for the past 2 days to do my daily readings. I only had the time today and I forgot that 29th September is the feast day of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. More significanly for me, yesterday (30th September) is the feast day of the patron saint of my choice! Ouch.. Sorry, Sir, I forgot about you :(

As I try to remember about him, I discovered his words below:

"If the apostles and martyrs, while still living on earth, could pray for other men, how much more may they do it after their victories? Have they less power now that they are with Jesus Christ?" 

 

I am amazed. And at the same time, I am proud of him. I know the variant of this quote which is usually used when Catholics and Protestants disagree about asking the dead to pray of us as well as to pray for the dead. It goes like "When we are alive, we ask our friends to pray for us and they ask us for our prayers. What different does it make when we ask our (dead) friends to pray for us or when we pray for our (dead) friends?". I am sorry to the Protestants out there but I think your thinking is just hypocritical. You argue that rather than pray to the saints, why not directly pray to God because after all He is the source of everything. My answer is: why do you ask your friends to pray for you when you are in need of God's help? You can directly pray to God, can't you?

For me personally, I will still honour the Saints and martyrs. They are nearer to God and with their holiness, God may find their prayer more preferable than mine. So please pray for me, Mother Mary, Saint Jerome, and all other Saints :) I, too, will pray but the more will be the merrier. Lol..