Painted Skin Drama Series (2011) (Complete)

This drama series is adapted from as Pu Songling’s classic short stories in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, as well as the movie of the same name. The drama series sets out to explain the characters and their origins.

In the movie, the storyline is about how a fox demon, Xiao Wei, who tries to prove that true love does not exist in the world and that it can be broken easily. She makes her way into the home of General Wang when he ‘rescues’ her. Xiao Wei’s beauty starts to attract people, and she slowly falls in love in General Pang. She plots to take over the position of his wife. In order for her to retain her beauty, she has to consume the hearts of humans. With dead bodies with their hearts missing increasing in numbers around town, General Wang’s wife, Pei Rong, suspects Xiao Wei.

When Pei Rong discovers that Xiao Wei is a fox demon, she enlists the help of Pang Yong and Xia Bing to help eliminate Xiao Wei. Xiao Wei forces Pei Rong to drink a poison that will turn her into a ‘demon’. General Pang upon seeing that his wife turned into a ‘demon’, tried to kill her. In the end, when both Gerneral Pang and his wife were dying, Xiao Wei finally understood what love meant and sacrificed her life to revive them.

The drama begins with an innocent Xiao Wei, who is not yet called Xiao Wei but Xu Xu. Xu Xu is caught in a demon trap and is unable to escape. She is set free by the noble and righteous Wang Sheng, unaware that she is a demon in her animal form. In the time it took him to free Xu Xu, the guards who were chasing him managed to catch up with him; dragging him back to his forced marriage. He was escaping from an arranged marriage set by his tyrant father who happened also to be a prince who abused his powers. After the first encounter, Xu Xu cannot forget about Wang Sheng and takes on human form and travels the world.

Back from being captured, Wang Sheng is forced to go through the marriage ceremony with Pei Rong, the daughter of a noble family. Pei Rong is not happy and does not want to marry into the Wang family, but she has not choice as her family is held hostage. It so happens that a band of bandits attack the city that Wang Sheng is residing on the day of the wedding. This results in a series of events that resulted in Wang Sheng leading Pei Rong out of the city. Wang Sheng encounters Pang Yong, Pei Rong’s childhood friend, and who is also in love with her... Read More>>

Cast (taken from Drama Wiki):
薛凱琪 Fiona Sit as Xiao Wei
陳怡蓉 Chen Yi Rong as Pei Rong
Li Zong Han as Pang Yong
Ling Xiao Su as Wang Sheng
鬼鬼 Gui Gui as Xia Bing
Qi Yu Wu as Long Yun
杨幂 Yang Mi as Xiao Hong

Episode Guide

• Episode 1
• Episode 2 & 3
• Episode 4 & 5
• Episode 6 & 7
• Episode 8 & 9
• Episode 10 & 11
• Episode 12 & 13
• Episode 14 & 15
• Episode 16 & 17
• Episode 18 & 19
• Episode 20 & 21
• Episode 22
• Episode 23 & 24 
• Episode 25 & 26 
• Episode 27 & 28 
• Episode 29 & 30
• Episode 31 & 32

Hyundai Motors Part 2 - Entering The High End Automobile Market

Discuses some of the challenges Hyundai Motor is likely to face in trying to reposition itself as a premium automobile brand, with its new premium model, the Genesis.

As Hyundai Motor tries to reposition itself as a premium automobile brand, one of the biggest challenges the company faces is its perception problem; being perceived as a manufacturer of entry-level cars and lack of prestige amongst consumers. This is evidenced in the first quarter sales of the Accent (least expensive car) increasing by 74%, while the Sonata sedan (more expensive) was down by 30%. (Gidman 2007) Hence, Hyundai Motor has the challenge of trying to change (improve) consumer brand knowledge, and convince consumers that they are capable of producing premium cars with prestige, which still maintains the company’s trademark affordability and durability.

Although Hyundai Motor has come a long way since its days of being branded as the “Worst Car Ever Made”, the notion amongst consumers that the Hyundai brand is inferior to Japanese car manufacturers such as Toyota and Honda is still prevalent. Gidman (2007) mentions that according to a May 2007 Business Week article, 71% of people who viewed an unidentified car without any Hyundai logo on it said that they would buy it, if a Toyota logo was on the car they were 20% more likely to purchase the car. However, once the Hyundai logo was shown, those willing to drive it out of the showroom dropped to 52% (lack of prestige).

As with any product line or family that is extended, there is always a risk of cannibalization. One such example can be seen when the sales of the Tucson affected the sales of the Santa Fe: the Tucson’s similar size and more affordable (cheap) pricing was the reason for the drop in the sales of the Santa Fe. (Ward's Dealer Business 2005) In its attempt to create a more up-market image for the whole brand with its latest luxury offering – the Genesis, sales of its other models may be affected or vice versa (Eisenstein 2008)...Read more>>

Hyundai Motors Part 1 - Hyundai Motors Success

Factors that have contributed to Hyundai Motor's success:

• Brand Equity:
The initial failure of the Excel propelled Hyundai Motor to improve their product quality and regain consumer confidence by "adding an unprecedented 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty—assurance to buyers that the car wouldn't fall apart on the turnpike while speeding along in the passing lane" (Gidman 2007).

Due to its efforts, Hyundai Motor was able to reposition itself as a producer of affordable cars (with quality), and consumers overall confidence in the Hyundai brand improved. As a result, Hyundai Motor has since been recognized as a producer of quality cars which are reliable and affordable; being ranked 72nd in the 2007 Best Global Brand survey. Bunkley (2008) quoted senior director of automotive testing at Consumer Reports, David Champion, that Hyundai has made "phenomenal progress" in the quality and reliability of its vehicles.

Being focused on the consumer, and improving in areas such as quality, durability, value and warranty programs have contributed to the success of Hyundai Motor's brand equity. The company's focus on affordability and practicality, unlike its competitors (e.g. BMW choosing to focus on technology), set it apart from its competitors and contributed to its success. (Vasilash 2006)

• Product Differentiation:
By improving (augmenting) its cars' exterior design and engineering, while still maintaining its affordability, made it appealing to consumers and improved its brand image (from being the "Worst Car Ever Made"); giving it a competitive edge. For example, "Hyundai's sleekly redesigned flagship" - the Sonata - was equipped with "six airbags, electronic stability control and a long list of standard equipment, all for less than $20,00″ (Muller & Meredith 2005). Hence, according to Muller & Meredith (2005), "Hyundai is now dictating trends that others must follow": the company's "success with cheap cars inspired General Motors to buy its own Korean company, Daewoo, to try to match Hyundai's offerings", and "Hyundai's breakthrough ten-year, 100,000-mile warranty spawned extended warranty offers by Chrysler and Mitsubishi"...Read more>>

Writing Reports: How to

Explains why there is a need for writing reports, and describes how to write reports.

According to dictionary.com, reports are "an account or statement describing in detail an event, situation, or the like, usually as the result of observation, inquiry". There are many reasons why there is a need to write reports. Unlike creative writing, reports are written for educational and informational purposes. They are always based on facts, and can be in the form of assessments or for references. There are many types of reports, namely progress reports, investigative reports, and feasibility reports.

Reports generally have 3 parts: the introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction of the report (like its name suggests), introduces the reader to the report:

• Background (of the report)
  

The background within the introduction of a report provides the history of the situation (that the report is about), who the report is targeted for, what the topic (of the report) is about, the current status of a situation (that the report is about) and the reasons for it, and the definition of key terms (e.g. scientific or technical). ...Read more>>

What is a Team?

Consisting of more than two individuals, Robbins and Judge (2007) describe a team as a group of interdependent individuals with special skills and/or knowledge, who have gathered together to achieve specific objectives; interaction is necessary and encourages “positive synergy through coordinated effort” (Robbins & Judge 2007, p299).

For example, 3 people (e.g. Lawyer, Programmer, Accountant) work together as a team producing high quality (computer/system) programs for an organization specializing in tax accounting. The programs produced require a high level of programming skills and aptitude to comprehend the law, with new laws and interpretation of existing laws have to be integrated quickly (and flawlessly) into the existing regulations and analysis tools. Each individual is equipped with the necessary (complimentary) skills and knowledge to integrate, as well as interpret new laws into the organization’s existing programs’ efficiently and effectively. Due to their education background and working experiences, each team member is able to contribute an area of expertise (law, accounting and programming); integrating desired objectives seamlessly and effectively through coordinated effort...Read more>>

Myung-wol The Spy / Spy Myung-wol (Korean Drama)

The drama revolves around Han Myung-wol, a North Korean spy, and Kang Woo, a big Hallyu star. Although Myung-wol works for the North Korean government, she is a member of the Hallyu crackdown squad, where she deals with the illegal distribution and smuggling of media (i.e. South Korean dramas). It has always been her dream to be in the special force unit, but she fails the final round of tests. Undeterred she tells Choi Ryu, a special force agent and friend. He tells her to stick to what she is good at instead of trying so hard. He does not want to see her bruise herself over the memory of her father, trying to become like him: her father was a solider and had died while in service.

Acting on intel, her team locates one such source. When Myung-wol tracks him down, she arrests him as he’s screening Kang-woo’s newest drama. From here on begins Myung-wol’s adventure: General Kim has a daughter who is a Kang-Woo fanatic and the General makes arrangements for Myung-wol to escort his daughter as her bodyguard with Ryu accompanying them. The mission has a dual purpose, the first is that Myung-wol play bodyguard to the General’s daughter at a Kang-woo concert in Singapore, and the second is for Ryu to track down some mysterious ancient books that apparently hold the fate of the world.

Kang-woo, appears to be quite the perfectionist, nitpicking every flaw which planning the performance in Singapore. However, he gives the impression that he an easy-going, smiling top star.

Finally in Signapore, the General’s daughter attempts to sneak out of the hotel room, only to be caught by Myung-wol. The General’s daughter assigns Myung-wol to get her a Kang-woo’s autograph. So off she goes to conquer Kang-woo’s autograph, which is proving to be more challenging that she initially thought... Read More>>

Review of Thai Restaurant: Sakon Thai (Singapore)

Sakon Thai is a "restaurant", more like open air cafe? It is located in a quiet part of Singapore along 77 Jalan Wangi, Macpherson. Initially what attracted me to this place was the reasonable pricing. However, standards don't seem to be consistent and fluctuate each time I go there. I have been to this restaurant a couple of times already, but today might be my last.

When my group of 4 arrived at the restaurant, business was rather good with a crowd forming a queue waiting to get seated. So we joined in the queue and waited patiently, however when it was our turn we were conveniently ignored by the restaurant staff and had to find our own table ourselves. Disaster soon ensued after we seated ourselves, despite our waving and calling the waitresses totally ignored us. It took some for time to take our orders and the food to actually arrive (45 min!). The drinks arrived first, however they were blend and tasteless. I had ordered an iced lemongrass drink and it tasted more like flavored water, it tasted better the first time I had it. Even my friend, who had previously ordered the lemongrass drink commented that the drink was much more blend and tasteless then the previous time she had ordered it.

After waiting (patiently) for 45min close to an hour, and some serious prompting the food arrived.  We had reminded them and asked about our order 3 times, each time they replied that the food was coming. There was a group that ordered after us, but by the time our food arrived they had already eaten, paid and left. All my group of 4  ordered was one tom yup seafood soup with rice (which they forgot and we had to remind them twice, which ended up in two plates of rice), one rice with bail leaf beef and egg, and 2 phat thai noodles.


It would be interesting to note that there was a lady seated at another table who demanded a change of her drink. She was asking the waitress why the drink tasted horrible when it had (previous) tasted fine. The waitresses were non-apologetic when it came to the appalling service and sub-standard drink quality. Neither were they friendly or helpful. Maybe it was because of the high influx of guests, but service standards nonetheless should not have been so deplorable to such an extent. Perhaps there was really too many people that the staff cannot cope with, perhaps we were just "forgettable" customers. Who knows?

Maybe the food is ok, maybe the pricing is reasonable (no 10% GST...yet), but the inconsistent service and drinks, on top of the bad attitude make it not worth the while. So either you avoid this place, or you may want to try this restaurant when there is no crowd. Now if the food was worth the wait and the waitresses approachable and friendly... that would be a totally different story altogether...Whichever the case, do let me know if you visit this place and is the service and food have improved.