28 posts tagged “rainie”

Mahliza, my 12-year-old niece, got addicted to Why Why Love while we were vacationing. Her mom, my cousin took her to the salon to have her hair rebonded. It was going to take three bloody hours so I let her borrow my iPod so she won't get bored. for some reasons, she ended up watching WWL. I have no idea how or why. she was raised in the US, have no idea about Asian dramas (her older sister loved to watch Gossip Girl in my iPod) and yet, she got addicted to a Taiwanese drama whose stars she hasn't even heard of. and since then, she'd watch the episodes every day and ask me questions on why this happened etc. To an innocent (and extremely shy) 12-year-old girl, there were things in the drama that were still not within her comprehension I suppose. And it was refreshing to see it from the perspective of a young girl. I was happy of course when she told me she prefers Huo Da (Mike) than Huo Yan (Kingone) for Jia Di (Rainie). A light bulb quickly lighted up in my head... I just recruited someone into the RM ship!

Mahliza's four-year-old brother, TJ bonded with my sister so much they were practically inseparable. TJ has lots of allergies and he survives only through French fries, rice crispies, milk and apple juice. The first time I saw him, he practically hid under my cousin's skirt except she wasn't wearing a skirt. It took a while for him to warm up to me and even then, not totally warmed up. But he's such a sweet little boy who loves to say "I love it here" in his soft voice.

One time, Mahliza and I were talking about WWL and her 10-year-old sister Allyson joined us. Ali is such a bubbly kid, the kind with the witty comebacks in sitcoms. And I told them about Devil Beside You.

Me: It's a story about stepsiblings who fell in love with each other.
Mahliza & Ali: Eww! Stepsiblings?
Ali: That's gross!
Me: Not exactly, they're not related by blood.
Ali: But still... you mean, they go to the same school, go home to the same house and they're dating?!
Me: That's why the drama is so interesting. You wanna watch it? But you have to promise me you'd watch it only after you do your homework otherwise, I'd be in trouble with your mom.
Ali: Well, we do homework for like 10 minutes and after that we're free to do anything.

Now I have to burn DBY and WWL for my new recruits to the RM ship.

I missed LH, my former Chinese colleague from Shanghai, so when SS from Beijing came to take over, I felt kind of aloof. I felt no connection between us unlike with LH that we'd go for massages or shop and have lunch on weekends together. I even said that SS and I simply do not have anything in common.
And then came The Call from Mr Manager for Yang Cheng Lin's interview and I had no choice but to pass the phone on to SS. I was scared at first not knowing how mainlanders take to Rainie and I wasn't sure if it would be OK for her to translate. I just had no choice that moment because it was last-minute.
I kept asking her on the way to the interview if it was really OK for her to translate and how she finds Rainie. She said she's OK with her. And she even said that Rainie is very famous especially among the young people in the mainland; young people, who she said, do not care about the "controversies" that got her into hot water with the "nationalists" before. Knowing that, I was somehow assured.
Then the interview happened.
And afterwards, I wasn't the only one dazed. On the way home, both of us said not a few times "she's so nice; her manager is nice" with matching dazed look. And came the confession, that she has turned into a fan of Rainie.
We started talking about other stuff until eventually we talked about Chou Jie Lun. And we found one more common ground. She's a big fan too.

Aside from Yang Cheng Lin and her manager, I do have people to thank for last night's unforgettable encounter.

Baby hentai and partner-in-crime xwolrax for giving me the "door" to open; and shinbi (who followed me on Twitter for a "live" feel lolz) and my other friends at the "pink home". It's amazing how two individuals could bring together people from all sorts of background. And the best part is having Yang Cheng Lin validating SMART. Now, who could bring us He Jun Xiang to our home???

And lastly, when it comes to things like this, I have become more blase. If it happens, it happens. If not, life goes on, there are other stories to write and people to meet. But the mere fact it happened, then it was meant to be.

So... thank YOU.

The thing with admiring an artiste is the fear that they might fall short of your expectations and disappoint you when you finally get to meet them.

I've been lucky to have seen some of the artistes I admire up close like Chou Jie Lun (just as I expected), Rain (after which I stopped admiring him if that says something), Lea Salonga (a very deserving role model indeed) and Arashi (a very fun experience with Kaytee). And then yesterday, the interview I have been quietly working on the last week suddenly fell through. Yang Cheng Lin or Rainie Yang to you and me. It was so unexpected that I had no time to be excited about it; until now, I am still fumbling with my emotions. Finally, coming face to face with the other half of my OTP, the only concern I had was if I could ask questions about her "other half".

Her manager was very nice and I was wondering, would she be as nice too?

Let me just say this: the girl is very unassuming. She walks into a room and the only reason why you would notice her is because she is very pretty. Her pictures do not do her justice. She has a very small face and dark pools of eyes. She looks like a teenager and not a year of her 25 years.

But more than the phsyical, she is very simple and no airs at all. No "I'm a star, look at me" tag on her forehead. Very low-key with only her manager accompanying her in her almost two months stay in the Kingdom to shoot a film. She carries her own bag and does not demand any special treatment (so unassuming that even a hotel staff was the one who acted more like a star with the gall to throw her weight around, which of course earned a complaint from me straight to the GM but that's another story).

She answered the questions straightforward, no fumbling. And the manager did not require me to submit an advanced set of questions to prepare her (unlike other stars and even politicians--the better for them to get their lies ready I suppose). Their only request, no photos of her taken last night to be published and that we focus more on discussing her career, which I happily obliged. They were both very nice about it in the first place, and it wasn't like I wasn't able to ask a question about He Jun Xiang. And she knows a lot of people are rooting for both of them. As to the truth behind them... only the two of them could answer that, not to a journalist like me, but to their very own hearts.

Some artistes are worth the admiration and spending a fortune on CDs, concerts, films, magazines and the like. One of the reason is because they are good in what they do and they work so hard for their craft. But more than being good, I am also one type of fan who would look beyond that. Is the person nice? Decent? Worth admiring in real life? If the answer to all these questions is a NO, then forget it.

True, we don't pay for who they are in real life but who they are and what they do whether on TV, movies or music. For the fantasy and entertainment they offer. I don't agree with that school of thought, however. Because what's the point of supporting someone who aside from having a great voice and good acting chops does not have much to offer as a person? There are always others out there who are as talented and are nicer, more pleasant individuals.

With Yang Cheng Lin, the answer to whether she's nice, decent and worth admiring in real life  is a resounding YES. Of course I just spent an hour with her, that may not be enough to judge her wholly as a person. But though it may have been short, if she is a diva or a prima donna, I would have seen it in her subtle body language sooner or later (especially when I was asking the very personal questions or the hotel staff was being a b*tch). I also don't think a nice manager could cover up for an ill-mannered talent.

So thanks to Yang Cheng Lin (and Da Da-ge) for proving that in such a superficial world as the entertainment circle, there is still a nice and decent person who just work hard to do what she enjoys doing and deserves the support she gets from countless of strangers who may not be as lucky as me to meet her personally. Rest assured that she really is worth supporting and admiring, even worth emulating especially her humility and grace.

"KC tells me they are just friends. My friend’s kids also say the same thing. Hindi na ba uso sa panahong ito ang makipag-on (laughs)? Iba na talaga ang generation ngayon (is it no longer common these days to go into a formal relationship? Today's generation is really different)."-- Gabby Concepcion when asked about his daughter KC and RG.

Actually, KC or GC or RG are not the point of this post.

I've just been thinking... "just friends", "very close friends", "close friends" must be the euphemism for boyfriend-girlfriend these days. My OTP both swear they're just very close. Hmmm.

I was browsing at Kino over the weekend looking for Outliers (SOLD OUT!!!) when I came across a book on writing and I lazily flipped through the pages. One thing, I really avoid reading books that tell you how to write well, how to improve your writing etc etc. Short of dummies' guide to writing although reading that would be fun I suppose than reading an all-too-serious book telling you you should write like this or that. An editor told me that the best way to improve your writing is to read other people's writings. And to practice until you achieve a style that you're comfortable with. And never to follow a book that guides you step by step on how to or not to write.

Going back to the book, I came across one of the advice. And that is, write like you're viewing the scene through a camera. Meaning don't view it from a single angle alone. View it from different angles. 3D. Like a camera was turning around the scene and capturing the peripheries.

I really found that interesting. I've been told I'm so detailed in my writing. I've noticed that too. I guess it's either I have an overactive imagination or I turn a scene round and round in my head to get the story I want. But yeah, I like reading stories that do not just tell you from one POV. I just hope that while telling my story, I do not get lost in the details. Though I really enjoy it when I can visualise the story and makes me feel like watching a movie.

What is it about Taiwanese stars and those yellow taxis? I just read today about Jolin and Show meeting up at the Regent for an ad collaboration, but what caught my attention was how she caught a taxi from her company. This is not the first time I've come across news stating that this star and that took a taxi to go somewhere else.

Even Jerry Yan takes a taxi... Cheng Lin met an accident once while riding a taxi... XiaoMei was seen hailing a taxi (previous post) after a late night with friends at a KTV. A lot of other stars too... don't they have cars? Or drivers to take them around? Or if they're too stingy to pay for gas, can't their companies provide a service for them? I'm not saying it's demeaning. It's nice that they still strive to live like ordinary mortals. But isn't that a risk too? What if they encounter stalkers or deranged fans. Or get kidnapped? This just boggles my mind. And yeah, wouldn't it be exciting to be a taxi driver in Taipei?