200 Pounds Beauty

If you think that 200 Pounds Beauty is going to be like Nutty Professor or Norbit, you are very wrong! Based on the Japanese manga by Suzuki Yumiko, Hanna (Kim A-jung) is a plus sized gal blessed with a stunning voice. Not being able to fulfil her dreams as pop star , she becomes a cover singer for the talentless Ammy and moonlights as a chatline / phone sex partner. After a turmoil of emotional upheavals which includes being humiliated infront of her one sided love aka Ammy's record producer Sang-Joong (Very charming -> Joo Jin-mo), she disappears for a year and becomes the new Jenny; through the help of plastic surgery.

The film discusses some real issues like insecurities of plus sized people, how beauties get their way in society, attitude towards plastic surgery in a light hearted and humourous manner.The strongest message that comes out of it is not to blinded by success at the expense of kinship and friendship. Although this movie does not have an award winning script, I loved the movie nonetheless. A number of issues mentioned above were close to my heart and certain parts of it managed to elicit soppy tears from the emotional me. Sniff. Kim A-jung & Joo Jin-mo did a good job, also not forgetting the other characters. The music in the film was awesome, some of which were sang by Kim A-jung herself! I particularly liked "Dance with my daddy" by Alex (Clazziquai) for personal reasons..will be loading the songs into my mobile real soon!

Go watch the movie! One thing for sure, you won't hate it.

Rain, I'm coming!

Jia recently worked up quite an appetite for Korean cuisine, thanks to the many Korean dramas she has been faithfully following. She insisted I try this truly authentic Korean restaurant with her and so I was like "Why not?". Anything that brings me closer to Rain's roots!

At the extremely well-lit and spacious Ju Shin Jung (west coast branch), we were warmly welcomed by the manager. 15 minutes of intensive menu reading and we finally decided on what they were famous for - Korean Charcoal BBQ! Mushroom, Bulgogi Boneless Chicken Leg & Sliced Sirloin! In addition, we ordered Yuk Gae Jang (Spicy Beef & Vegetable Soup) and also Yidong Makguli (Rice wine @ 50% off) to share. I was pretty confident of finishing our meal (considering the experience I have had in Seoul Garden) until the waitress started to fill our table with close to 15 side dishes. Wau lau... siao liao how to finish!? It was all too late when we wanted to cancel our beef soup order, sigh. No choice, just eat lor.

I wouldn't go into each and every of the sides but those worth mentioning include 1) Big headed beansprout 2) Vinegared seaweed 3) Spicy Anchovies (Ikan Billis) 4) Kim Chi 5 & 6) ) Seasoned Tofu & Sweet Corn Kernels both which I had lotsa trouble picking with the metal chopsticks (stupid me did not realise they provided spoon until towards the end of the meal) Sigh.

The Yuk Gae Jang wasn't as spicy as I hoped for but the soup was still packed with sweetness of veggies and beef! Not forgetting the slurpifying Korean vermicelli in the soup! The mushrooms would have been a favourite among the mushroom fans. They were fresh and unseasoned, one could easily taste the original juices of the mushrooms, especially the white button mushroom. But I still like mine with butter. My top choice for the night would have to be Bulgogi Beef - Marinated to shiokness, it gets two thumbs up!! Bulgogi Chicken was actually quite tender & tasty but we were both too bloated to experience the goodness of my all time favourite meat. There was quite abit of left-over so being the typical cheapskate Singaporean, I asked for a plastic container to 'ta bao' (pack back) home! Don't waste mah, the food very expensive you know? The waiter also handed us a plastic bag to place the container, how thoughtful!

Other highlights of the meal include:

• Complimentary iced-cinnamon flavoured dessert drink & heart shaped watermelon slices - what a nice way to end the meal!
• Deceiving "white coins" sitting mysteriously on a plate - When added with water, it magically expands and transforms to a wet towel! Amazing!

*Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ

27 West Coast Highway #01-18/19
YESS Centre 1F S117867
64640872

1018 East Coast Parkway #02-01
Rain Tree Cove S449877
64479279

Lunch 12pm-2:30pm / Dinner 6pm-11pm