Nakai Masahiro's All Star Bowling

Found this 'All Star Bowling' special on Veoh.com (part 1, part 2, part 3 38mins plus each) hosted by Nakai Masahiro of SMAP. The guest stars (teams of 6) are cast members from 5 of the dramas currently airing this season, in no particular order:

• LIFE (Kitano Kii)
• Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (Horikita Maki, Oguri Syun)
• Yama Onna Kabe Onna (Itou Misaki, Kyoko Fukada)
• First Kiss (Inoue Mao, Ito Hideaki)
• Ushi ni Negai wo ~ Love & Farm (Toda Erika!)

If you just want to see Erika bowl, then click on the 'part 2' link above (from 32:40 - 34:49) but if you have 2 hrs to spare then watch the whole thing cause it's pretty entertaining and funny.

Unfortunately i couldn't get better screencaps because they don't show replays for the bowler unless they Strike or throw a Gutter ball. Erika hit 3 pins, unlike some of the pathetic guys on her team who threw gutter balls.

Notable list of gutter ball throwers: Kyoko Fukada, who came dressed in a hotel maid costume and babbled on much too long before guttering, and Horikita Maki, HanaKimi's team Captain, who looked really guttered (<-pun) after guttering.

Babbled a whole load of rubbish...

Visibly guttered..your team loses all it's points when someone gutters (G).

Really felt like going to bowl after watching this. Alex, quickly organise something again!

Wake Up and Smell the Roses

Cycling down the Orchard stretch at night was not as fun as i thought it would be. The main problem for a cyclist is the endless line of buses jostling with me on the left lane, forcing me to weave in and out between them the entire way, and the neverending traffic lights every few hundred metres. It seemed that i was unlucky enough to get stopped at every single traffic light from Raffles City to Wheelock Place.

Fortunately, the rest of my cycling on Sunday night was pretty enjoyable. Went down to Pasir Panjang to Shenton Way, to Kallang Stadium; stopped for Tau Hui at Selegie, cycled through Orchard Road (worst part) and down Holland Ave back to my place. I'm practicing the 'art' of riding leisurely so i didn't feel tired at all when i finished my round trip. Got to keep in mind not to gulp down too much water at once or it will leave my stomach feeling all bloated.

Cycled back to Sembawang Camp this afternoon to catch up with my ex-colleagues. The place is SO much more peaceful (and stress-free) compared to my home, so much so that i stayed the entire afternoon doing nothing but talk cock and exchange gossip, mostly with Ee Wei. Feels damn long since i ORD'ed, even though in reality it has just been 3 1/2 weeks since i've been gone.

Probably will drop by camp again next Thursday(12th) to take my IPPT with Ming Wei (failed 1st attempt). Everyone's been laughing at him cause he failed sit-ups and running, so i hope i don't end up the same. Think i have to work on my pull-ups. The only upper body exercise i've been doing the past month involve only my fingers...
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Drama NEWS

- Finally some screenshots of HanaKimi (official site here)! I was eagerly waiting to see how Horikita Maki would look like dressed as a guy, and my first impression from the pictures is... she's not very convincing. Still can't wait to catch this series though.

Spot the male-wannabe. (click for bigger pic)

- The drama taking over Liar Game's Saturday 11pm slot this season, LIFE, looks interesting as well:

First episodes' ratings (11.0%) look decent for such a late slot. Will definitely give this series a shot. Theme song (also titled 'LIFE') is by Mika Nakashima as well.

- Aragaki Yui's (one of the Pocky girls) first leading role-drama aired on Sunday, Papa to Musume no Nanokakan.

Not too crazy about her (but she was voted the no.1 most popular celebrity 18 yrs and under, as a reference, Erika toda was 3rd) and not too memorable in 2 of the dramas i've seen with her so far (Galcir and Dragon Zakura). This drama's slated to be only 7-episodes long. Gonna catch it to see what all the fuss about her is about.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

There's a whole bunch of new movies/dramas coming out this next 2 months. Some shows i want to highlight and will probably catch/buy:

Transformers Movie
There have been many takes on Optimus Prime since the original cartoon/comic design but by far this movie incarnation is the f'ugliest i've ever seen. I consider myself a decent Transformers fan and it pains me to see what they've made Prime into. Except for his head which is fairly recognisable, the rest of the body (flame art..*pukes*) looks like mechanized crap.

And i'm being very kind when i say that Prime's design is the most 'faithful' (in the loosest possible sense) to the original. The rest of the Autobots (Bumblebee, Jazz, Ironhide) are completely alien to me and the Decepticons (Megatron, Starscream) look like a bunch of shiny CG pipes twisted together.

I'll bite my tongue (for 5 seconds) if this turns out good. Unfortunately the "Transformers" branding alone is enough to make me line up like the idiot i am to watch it on opening day, June 28th (which happens to be the day before my birthday).

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (official site, Tokyograph annoucement) (starring Horikita Maki, Shun Oguri etc)
The title might sound unfamiliar, but this is actually the Japanese version of the Taiwan drama 花樣少年少女 (starring Ella of S.H.E). Like Meteor Garden/Hana Yori Dango before, the original story is based off a Japanese manga of the same title (Hana Kimi for short). Being biased (and because Horikita Maki is starring in this), i will of course say that this will be much more faithful to the manga and better than the Taiwan version. Hopefully it's as good as Hana Yori Dango. No pics as of yet of this drama on Wiki or the official site. Air date is every Tuesday starting from July 3rd.

Sad Vacation (starring Miyazaki Aoi etc.)
Frankly i have no idea what this movie is about. I don't even know who are the leading actors/actress in it. What i do know is that Miyazaki Aoi will be starring in it, possibly in a non-leading role (i deduced this from the amount of shots of her from the website and the fact that her name gets 3rd billing on the credits; don't take my word for it). I'm willing to bet that this movie will never get shown in Singapore theatres, which means i probably have to import it if i want to complete my Aoi film collection.

NANA 2 (DVD) (Full Trailer)

Official release date for Japanese version is June 22nd. Can't wait to get my hands on a HK or local release of this. I know i badmouthed Ichikawa Yui before on taking Miyazaki Aoi's Hachi role but after not seeing her in any shows for so long i'm excited to see her act. I guess it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. And to be fair, it was not like she slept with anyone to get the role from Aoi. (Aoi rejected the role in NANA 2 herself due to either a) other projects (Heavenly Forest) b)because there were bed scenes in NANA 2 for Hachi; take your pick)