Korean tv and movies

I wanted to go to a park in Wan Chai that apparently has cherry blossoms. I’ve never seen cherry blossoms in real life (I mean in nature, so excluding Gardens by the Bay in SG) so I’m really hoping that they’re still blooming. I know cherry blossoms only have a very limited lifespan each year, something like two weeks, so I don’t know if I’m too late this year.

We didn’t quite make it out of the house today, though, so hopefully we can find the cherry blossoms tomorrow 🤞🌸🌸🌸🤞

We watched Parasite today. It was good! I really enjoyed it. I haven’t written about them lately because I haven’t been watching them, but I looove Korean dramas. So I figured I would also like Korean movies. And I definitely enjoyed this movie!

And then I found a new potential Korean drama: Hi Bye, Mama! Crash Landing On You hasn’t really grabbed me, so I’m still wondering if I should persevere and continue with it. But it has been mega popular… I haven’t been watching much tv lately, though, so not sure if I’m going to watch either anyway! 😔

A walk and a potential new show

We went out for a bit of a walk, going from Central to Kennedy Town and back, following Victoria Harbour. I didn’t know that there’s effectively a promenade that runs by the water for pretty much the whole way! 👍 It was a bit humid and also a bit smoggy today, but the walk was pleasant nonetheless. Now that I know that this promenade exists, I may make more of an effort to go for a walk there every now and then 😊 But maybe after this damn virus is under control… 🦠

SG numbers are still increasing, and now they’re enforcing stricter and stricter measures there 😔 We’ve hit 1,000 with 11 new cases today. Even lower than yesterday’s number. And ten of those were people who had arrived from overseas, so it’s looking promising! Fingers crossed! 🤞

We watched a trailer for The Crown, which looks promising. It may be our next series… 😊 And IMDb has a rating of 8.7/10 for it, so that’s promising too… But first, I want to watch Parasite! Have you seen the movie yet? What did you think of it? What about The Crown?

Opposites

We were originally going to go out and do some shopping, but we decided against it, as it would’ve been a non-essential outing. So we stayed home and watched tv instead 📺 I decided to watch Contagion. It was a bit too close to reality at the moment, which was a bit freaky, but hopefully real life doesn’t get as extreme!

And then we finished Dirk Gently, which is so far from reality 😂 I liked season two more than I did season one, so I thought they were on a good roll. But apparently it didn’t get picked up for a third season, which is a shame. I liked that show 😔 So now we’re on the hunt for another tv series!

I heard a bit more about the situation over in the US at the moment and how the states are basically bidding against one another for ventilators. OMFG. It’s capitalism at its absolute worst. And then I heard that Jared Kushner denying New York much needed medical supplies because ‘… the federal stockpile is supposed to be our stockpile, it’s not supposed to be states’ stockpiles that they then use’, he says. What the actual F, man. Isn’t that exactly what the federal stockpile is for, when the states need it in an emergency like what they’re going through right now?!?? 😱😡 If you’re not going to help New York that is clearly the state in the most pain right now, then who will you help?!?? Unbelievable.

In complete contrast, when Wuhan needed help, other provinces in the country got behind them and 20,000 medical staff were sent from all around the country to help the city out. Medical supplies were being delivered into the city, with everyone trying to do their bit for the city.

And today, they actually had a national three-minute silence at 10am in memory of all the people who had passeed away due to Covid-19. Their social media apps are full of well wishes for Wuhan. It’s really heartwarming to see a whole country get together like this to support their fellow countrymen and women, especially when the current news around the world is still so depressing right now 😔

A few things to distract me

We went to Shake Shack for lunch today. The place was virtually empty, and we had to get our temperature checked at the door, which is so common in HK now whenever you enter a restaurant or a store. We sat outside in the general public seating area, but there was next to no one there either. Not that I’m complaining, especially during these current times!

Absolutely no one in this shot 👍

Oh and btw, FYI, I don’t think I have ever explicitly said it, but HK is not in lockdown. We never have been. So I’m not openly flouting any lockdown laws or anything, in case you’re wondering! 😆 I am voluntarily exercising self-quarantine as much as possible, as I mentioned a few weeks ago when I was anticipating this second surge in cases here 😒

And then in the evening, we watched another episode of Dirk Gently and an episode of How I Met Your Mother when Ralph Macchio, the Karate Kid, guest starred. It was actually quite a good episode!

TV took my mind off the fact that the numbers are still increasing in HK and around the world, sighhh 😔 Even if just for a little while.

We’re now at over 800K cases and almost 40K deaths. I still remember about a month ago when I was wondering how long the overnight increases of 10,000 would last. Now that number looks small. What the hell, man. It’s just all so surreal.

Relaxing on Boxing Day

Lazy day today. I didn’t do much at all, just watched more YouTube videos to help me make better videos 😊

We went out for a quick dinner and then watched The Game Changers when we got back, which was very interesting. And then we watched some other stuff that basically took the opposite side of the debate 🤷‍♀️ So basically what I got out of what we watched tonight is that I should just add more vegetables to my diet! Not a bad result, if you ask me 😊

I think I’m going to include that in my goals for 2020. I need to have a think about what I want to focus on in the coming year and then to write them down. I only have a few days left before the New Year comes around. December hasn’t slowed down one bit! 😱

Building back up and starting to wind down

I decided to go to Din Tai Fung today. I haven’t been there in a while, and so I thought I’d go back today. I’m never disappointed whenever I go there. Their standard is sooo consistent it’s unbelievable. The place runs like a machine 👍

I then just wandered around the shopping district that is Causeway Bay. The last few times we’ve gone there on the weekend it’s been eerily quiet. But today, it felt like the buzz is on its way back, with the crowds already building back up again, and it was getting harder to walk through the shops and on the footpaths. Maybe things are slowly getting back to normal in this city. Maybe… 🤷‍♀️

And then in the evening, I watched a holiday movie The Princess Switch, feeling like getting into the Christmas spirit 🎄 They had some actors from the UK in the movie, which of course reminded me of Downton Abbey 😊 So now I’m thinking of watching Downton Abbey the movie tomorrow. Maybe I can watch a few more movies over the next few weeks, as we start winding down to Christmas and New Year 😌

Resting

It had finally tuned into a full-blown cold today 🤧 I spent more of the day sleeping than awake, so with all this rest, I hope I start feeling a little better tomorrow. Sighhh… I hate being sick 😔

I managed to watch Avengers: Endgame, though, all three hours of it. Despite the length, I still enjoyed it, and I thought it was a nice way to end the series, if it is indeed the end of the series. I assume it’s the end, but I thought they were in the middle of filming another Thor movie, so maybe there’s still a few more to go… Maybe it’s the end of the Avengers movies, but maybe they’re still making more for each of the individual characters 🤷‍♀️

And then after a lonnnggg nap – N managed to sneak in a gym session while I continued to rest – we then watched the first episode of The Umbrella Academy, which looks quite promising. It’s a little different, and a bit dark, so it’s piquing our interest… They’ve finished the first season and now working on a second, so hopefully we enjoy this first season, at least 🤞

The protests continue this weekend

As I expected, this sore throat has now turned into a full-blown cold 😔 It hasn’t completely knocked me out, thankfully, but it’s enough to hinder my day-to-day activities 😒 So coupled with the rain today (it’s still raining, can you believe it?!), I ended up just staying home and resting.

We were about to watch Avengers: Endgame when I got a news update on my phone saying that the protesters were out again, this time at Tsim Sha Tsui. So we switched on the live coverage and watched that instead. Apparently protests are planned for tomorrow as well, and people are also calling for a city-wide strike on Monday. N went to the office earlier today to pick up his laptop, in case this actually does go ahead. Given the intense emotions in the city at the moment, this will probably indeed go ahead 😔 The students (who comprise the bulk of the protesters) are still on summer holidays at the moment, so I suspect these protests will continue at least until the new semester starts. Sighhh… I still wonder how this will all end…

I was barely even trying

In complete contrast to yesterday, I had the most productive day today! I was focussing on stuff in and for the house, so I got a ton of chores done, including setting up my Bullet Journal for August 👍 And then outside of the house: we brought some big items down to the laundromat; and we also picked up and dropped off some dry cleaning. And then we also went to two different supermarkets, as each supermarket stocks different items. A bit of a hassle, I know, but that’s just the way it is here, I guess because space is such a prized commodity, and each supermarket can only stock a limited number of items on their shelves 🤷‍♀️

We also got to the gym, and afterwards watched The Secret Life of Pets, the original one, as we hadn’t seen it yet. I’ve been wanting to watch it so I can then watch #2 😊

And I also managed to squeeze in a few more episodes of Goblin, my current Korean drama. I’m now up to the final episode! I just want to finish it so I can move on to the next one. I have so many on my list of dramas to watch, I can’t keep up! They make so many! 😆

I can’t believe we managed to squeeze all of the above into one day, I’m quite proud of our effort – and even more so, since I was barely even trying! 😲

Changed plans

Facebook kindly reminded me of the World Cup last year, and it got me wondering what I was doing during the previous World Cup, the one in 2014. I remember where I was because I entered our office betting pool. It was the first time I had entered a World Cup betting pool, and everyone in the office was obsessed, so I couldn’t help but be swept in all the craziness as well. That was five years ago, and we were still living in Australia. We have moved to Asia since then, and no way in my wildest dreams would I have imagined my life would be in HK five years later. 2014 feels way more than just five years ago. So now I wonder where the next five years will take us and whether it will be as crazy as the last five… I don’t take any hometown for granted anymore, and so now I just make the most of my time in the city. I remember when our Aussie friends left SG last year, how our time together in the city country abruptly came to an end. You just never know when what you take for granted today will be taken away from you, so I try and make the most of each day. Who knows what tomorrow will bring…

Anyhoo… I just went off contemplating life for a second there 😆 But it was nice to pause and reflect on the last five years. Overall they were great years, and I hope I enjoy the next five just as much 🤞

The protest in HK continued today. And because of the potential unrest that could happen whenever such things are organised, N’s karate teacher decided to cancel today’s class. Even though class is not within the protest route, students still have to come from various places, and public transport will probably be heavily affected. And coupled with potential unrest, their teacher decided to just cancel today’s class.

So we watched Adam Sandler’s new movie instead, Murder Mystery 😆 It actually wasn’t too bad! There were a few annoying bits, particularly in the beginning, but soon after that, the movie got going and kept us entertained. Sure it’s not going to win any awards, but it’s a fun movie, and if you just watch it with no expectations of being blown away by anything and just go in for the ride, then you may actually enjoy it too. Maybe. Hopefully 😊