‘Brutally Young 2.0’ was unexpectedly good.

It’s almost end of the month. I have already been in New Zealand for 20 days now. Still can’t stand the freezing temperature over here. Taking a shower here feels like a torture and going downstair to the kitchen and living area was an undesirable thing to do due to the chilling winter here.

A quick update for my current working holiday here at Queenstown, NZ; I’m still familiarizing myself with all the variety of tasks for my front of house job (including handling some back of house works as well) in a restaurant up on a ski mountain called The Remarkables. I also went up to Coronet Peak (another ski mountain) earlier this week, took a first-timer lesson in ski (for free from my privilege as a staff…both mountains are managed by same company) and managed to learnt how to slow down/brake while skiing. Good first step. My plan is to practice once a week so that I will be able to ski (at least until mastering beginner’s level) before end of this winter season.

Back to the main topic of this post; a brief review for another Hong Kong TVB drama that I have recently finished watching. The drama is called ‘Brutally Young 2.0’ (十八年後的終極告白2.0) and is an indirect sequel to the original which was released few years ago and was quite good as far as I can remember. TVB usually fails when it comes to sequel but that isn’t the case for this one surprisingly. ‘Brutally Young 2.0’ was actually very good and kept me engaged and thrilled by its suspenseful story, brilliant plot twists and excellent performances.

This 20-episode drama starred Shaun Tam, Joel Chan, Katy Kung, Candice Chiu, Zoie Tam, Raymond Cho, etc. It is not a stellar cast but they shined in their respective roles in this drama. I won’t see them as great actors/actresses previously. However, after seeing their performances in this series, I have to change my mind. Their roles here allow them to showcase their wide range of acting. Out of the 6 people I mentioned above, I actually find Shaun Tam (first male lead) to be the least convincing in terms of acting instead (he was last year’s best actor winner for his performance in ‘Take Two’).

The series has a very fast paced storyline (which is good) and was full of nice suspense, secrets (yes, all characters hold so many secrets from one another especially from their partners…and eventually blown up to a hot mess that we love to watch) and surprises along the way. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Brutally Young 2.0’ a total of 8.3. My highest rated drama this year so far. By the way, this drama is Joel Chan’s third drama this year (after ‘The Righteous Fists’ and ‘Barrack O’Karma 1968’). Have been seeing him on screen a lot of time recently. What a busy year for him. Well, he deserves more opportunities like these. His time for best actor win will come soon. He was splendid in this series too.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Started the ‘work’ part of my on-going working holiday.

Hi there! I have just came back from work and it’s still early. Hence, I’ll head straight to write a new post right now to update on what’s happening to me lately after I have arrived in Queenstown, New Zealand for my working holiday almost two weeks ago. I won’t be frequently updating my blog here while I’m in New Zealand now as I would like to dedicate more of my time to fully enjoy the experience of this on-going working holiday.

I would probably be writing like 2 posts in a month as opposed to more than 5 in a month in the past. Less time on the computer is good. More time to work on the other things, rest and just enjoy the moment here. I secured a job as service attendant in food and beverage department up at a mountain ski area called The Remarkables owned by NZSki. Last week, I attended several days of training and also an orientation day (a week before). The ski area opened yesterday. Hence, today was my second day of work.

I even managed to catch a glimpse of New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern who visited the ski area on its first day of opening yesterday while I was working in the restaurant area. I do not have any past experience in F&B and hence everything were almost totally new to me. I have a lot to learn and I hope that I can deal with all the works smoothly soon. There are various different areas of works even for my ordinary role as a service attendant. In general, it is not as easy as it seems.

I will be on this job for the entire winter season which is expected to last till mid of October. Now, I am planning to learn to ski on the coming Tuesday or Wednesday (during my off days) at the place where I work (The Remarkables). Hope I can learn that fast. I have tried skiing before during my trip to South Korea many years ago for a short one or two hours only. Can’t remember much and I knew I didn’t learn anything back then. Now, it is the opportunity for me to pick up this sport/skill.

Before work started, I also did manage to explore more of Queenstown and even took the cable car (called Skyline Queenstown) last Friday up to top of Queenstown Hill for a spectacular view of the town and its surrounding lake and mountains. The view was breathtaking! I also did walked around the Queenstown Gardens and explored the town area (which is quite small). I tried the famous Fergburger as well too. Everything was great so far and I hope it stays that way or getting even better! It is so cold here by the way. Some photos of my working holiday trip so far (more photos in my Facebook or Instagram page).

Arrived at Queenstown, New Zealand last Monday.

Today is my third day here in Queenstown, a small town famous for ski resorts at the south island of New Zealand. I have arrived here with my friend on last Monday. Temperature here currently ranges from 4 to 12 degree celsius (not too cold yet, but this is considered freezing for me especially in the evening). It is always raining here and snow are already visible on top of mountains around here including the ski mountain that I will be working at soon (The Remarkables mountain).

In these first few days here, we have been spending our time busy prepping our rented room, buying necessary items and groceries, and exploring nearby places and shops in this beautiful town. The town is indeed quite small but is extremely picturesque, thanks to its large lake in the middle surrounded by clouds and mountains. We have also adjusted ourselves to the 4 hours time difference with Malaysia/Singapore and no more jet lag feeling.

It is already freezing for me at the land level. It must be much colder up at the mountain. I will be getting up there the first time on this Friday (at my workplace) for the company’s orientation day. Then, there would probably be a week of training before work officially starts on 18th June when the ski resort is opened to the public. Hope all is well and smooth for my seasonal job there for close to 4 months (for the entire winter season).

After that, we will be packing our stuff and travel around the entire South Island to fully explore the sights as tourists (around end of October). Then, we will head to the North Island to complete our tour around New Zealand before heading to Australia for our final trip in December before returning to Malaysia in January next year (in time for Chinese New Year). That’s our general plan for now.

Sharing my first picture of the trip below to end this post. The Remarkables mountain is at the background.

My working holiday trip to New Zealand is now just around the corner…and my brief review to TVB series ‘Stranger Anniversary’.

It’s the month of June already and four days later, I will be flying to New Zealand to commence my working holiday trip. The trip was planned since March once I got my working holiday visa approved. After nearly 3 months of waiting and preparation, the trip is finally within sight.

Settling on a new place to live is never easy and is pretty daunting at first. Fortunately, I have such experience in the past twice when I moved to Australia for two years for my postgraduate study and then moved to Singapore for work purpose. Haha…I was like a nomad; changing places to settle at once every few years.

I would already be in New Zealand by the time my next blog post appeared. I will most probably write on my first impression of Queenstown, share some stunning pictures of the place during winter (opps…it’s going to be freaking cold over there!), and share some of the things I have to do once I arrived there before I start my seasonal job at the Remarkables ski resort. Looking forward to this view below of Queenstown and the Remarkables mountain at the background when I get there next week.

Before ending my post, I would like to share my quick review to a recent TVB drama that I have watched; ‘Stranger Anniversary’. It is a 25-episode series (cut short to 20-episode for TVB version due to extremely poor rating this series has received) with a story that revolves on two people who are not related by blood, but very similar in appearance. They contact each other, and have been miraculously affecting each other’s life trajectory. The series starred Joe Ma, Roxanne Tong, Winki Lai, Matthew Ho, Alice Chan, David Chiang, Angel Chiang, Tsui Wing, etc.

I understand why the series received such poor rating. A very simple answer; it is simply bad. Comes with a non-engaging storyline and poor chemistry between the cast, the series just couldn’t deliver. Joe Ma is too old for the role and is not compatible at all especially with her much younger female co-stars (Roxanne and Winki). The comedy part of the series was also not funny. For its drama side, it was uninteresting. My only compliment to the series is its effort on putting two Joe Ma’s characters together in the same frame in a couple of scenes which require some hard work. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Stranger Anniversary’ a total of 6.0. A light-hearted show but could not bring anything fresh to the table.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)