Just finished a small batch of hanami dango, japanese three-coloured dumplings. I got the recipe from the Manga Cookbook, which my boyfriend gave to me for my birthday. It’s a really nice book, would recommend it to anyone as an introduction to making Japanese food.

I’ve spent ages looking for the right type of flour. Both mochiko and shiratamako are extremely hard to find in Norway unless you live in Oslo, and you MUST use these types of rice flour to get it right. Regular rice flour is just used to get the dango more firm. I managed to find some in Sweden, but used food colouring instead of matcha powder, since I didn’t find that.

Sticky stuff, but very delicious!

Both regular and pre-order editions are now up at yesasia.com. The album itself isn’t due until January 22nd, so we’ll have to wait a bit more before we can get our hands on it. The normal edition comes with a dual cover and some stickers. I’ve gotten some more information on the track list too, but nothing is confirmed as of yet. It seems a bit strange to me that “In your eyes” will be included in Show’s album as well, since Rainie’s newest album already contains the song. I will, however, post the current one.

Track list (will update when confirmed)
01. Luo Sheng Men (羅生門)
02. Ai De Zhu Chang Xiu (愛的主場秀)
03. Sheng Li Shi Zhong (生理時鐘)
04. Xi Guan Jiu Hao (習慣就好)
05. Wei Xian De Nian Tou (危險的念頭)
06. Ai Feng Tou (愛瘋頭)
07. In Your Eyes (feat. Rainie Yang)
08. Ai Bu Dan Xing (愛不單行)
09. Gao Ding (搞定)
10. Wei She Me Zai Yi Qi (為什麼在一起)
11. Lao Shi Jiang(老實講)
12 . WOW (feat. Elva Hsiao)

Title: 쾌도 홍길동 / Hong Gil Dong
Also known as: Sharp Blade Hong Gil Dong, The Hero
Genre: Comedy, romance, action, drama
Episodes: 24

Hong Gil Dong is a historical drama, very loosely based on a fictional book about a “Robin Hood”-type character living in Korea. However, we do find more modern elements not supposed to be invented in the era the story is set in. The dancing is an example of this. Nevertheless, Hong Gil Dong is a must for all who enjoy a bit of romance, action and some pretty nice costumes and fight scenes.

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Title: 궁 (宮) S / Goong (Gung) Season S
Also known as: Palace S / Prince Hours / Imperial Household S / Goong Special
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 20

The Korean royal family is under pressure. They must find a successor to the throne, or else the public will be in uproar. The first successor to the throne died, and now the country is led by the unmarried Queen. They then discover Kang Hoo, a young man who’s work is to deliver food from a local Chinese restaurant. As it turns out, Kang Hoo is acutally named Lee Hoo, and is the son of the first successor to the throne which died. Kang Hoo is then thrown into a royal life which he must adapt to.  He must improve his skills and his manners to become worthy of the title of Crown Prince. However, earning the title might not be so easy after all. Competition arrives in the form of another worthy candidate, a young man named Lee Joon who has been trained for the role as Crown Prince for the past seven years. Not only will Kang Hoo find himself competing for the title, but also for love. How will this end?

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New translation, this time of the short version of Cang Jing Ge by Lollipop, the opening for The Legend of Brown Sugar Chivalries. I have tried my best to make some sense of it. There’s actually Cantonese in this one, took me ages to figure out that phrase. I’ve marked it in red, just in case. There’s a couple of things I absolutely could not make sense of whatsoever, so pardon me if something sounds really strange. ^^; Comments on the translation are very welcome. :3

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Title: 霹靂MIT / Pi Li MIT
English title: Mysterious Incredible Terminator
Also known as: The Clue Collector
Genre: Mystery, suspense, school
Episodes: 14
Opening theme song: Dong Mai (動脈) Artery by Fahrenheit
Ending theme song: Re Xue Jing Shen (熱血精神) Red-Blooded Spirit by Christine Fan

Everything is not well at Shen Ying High School. An unknown evil is terrorizing the students, making school life unbearable. You’ll never know who’ll be targeted next; it might just be you. In the past, the legendary Thunder Team protected the school from this evil. In the present however, the team has been disbanded, and the reason for their disappearance is unknown. The last remaining member of the former Thunder Team, now a teacher at the same school named Cherry, decides to create a new Thunder Team, consisting of members with exceptional abilites. Will they be able to solve this mystery?

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Title: 籃球火 / Lan Qiu Huo
English title: Hot Shot
Also known as: Basketball Fire / Basket Fire Ball
Genre: Sport, romance
Episodes: 16
Opening theme song: Hot Shot by Show Lo
Ending theme song: Yi Ban (一半) Half by Jerry Yan

This is one of my absolute favorite Taiwanese dramas this season. I have been following this drama since the first episode came out, watching it live every sunday evening. Hot Shot basically covers the story of a basket-loving young boy named Yuan Da Ying, and his journey into the basketball world. At the same time we meet Dong Fang Xiang, who is already a legendary player in the basket community, and follow his story as well.

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I am extremely happy today. Not that I am unhappy most of the time, I usually am a positive person, but this has been a very cheerful tuesday. First of all, I didn’t need to get up at 8:00 am today, since group sessions in English are over for this semester. Thus, I spent a few morning hours on sleeping, not waking up until my alarm clock went off at 10:00 am. Ah, how I love to slumber in the morning… When I woke up, my radiator was already on. I don’t remember leaving it on last night, but I guess I did. I tend to forget such things. This prevented me from freezing my ass off when going to the bathroom. Mornings here in Trondheim are starting to become pretty cold. Anyway, after playing some online games with Lene, I decided that I should go to the store to get something to make dinner of. I also decided to check my mail, just in case something was in there. I usually don’t check my mail everyday, it is rather uncommon for something to find its way to my mailbox anyway. Unless it’s something sent from my family or I have ordered something that is. And this is just what happened, my CDs came in the mail today!

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Yes, I admit it. I have become a drama addict. Honestly, if I can’t catch Hot Shot every sunday afternoon, I get this weird feeling that I’ve missed something important. The worst part is, I have dragged my friend down with me and got her addicted too. Recently, I urged her to see Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu, the Taiwanese version of Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. She had already seen the Japanese version. Just to put the record straight, I absolutely LOVE both series. My general impression is that people tend to prefer one series over the other. The plot is slightly different, the characters are interpreted in different ways… Although both series are based on the same manga, they might be seen as two separate dramas. However, altough I like both series, I tend to prefer certain actors. This caused a discussion between me and my drama-loving friend, thus giving birth to this list. Which Hana-Kimi actor do we prefer?

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Title: 黑糖群俠傳 / Hei Tang Qun Xia Zhuan
Also known as: The Legend of Brown Sugar Chivalries
Genre: School, wuxia, comedy
Episodes: 13
Opening theme song: Cang Jing Ge (藏經閣) The Sutra Chamber by Lollipop
Ending theme song: Dui Bu Qi (對不起) Sorry by Wang Zi (Ep 1-6) / Mi Mi Ji Di (秘密基地) Secret Base by Lollipop (Ep 7-13)

While browsing the net for some Hot Shot subs, I suddenly stumbled upon another rather interesting Taiwanese drama, Hei Tang Qun Xia Zhuan. Basically, the story is about a fight between some good gyus and a mad person who wants to rule over the world Jianghu. I will not attempt to explain Jianghu any further myself, ’cause I do not know the exact meaning of it. But feel free to look it up, I believe Wikipedia has an article on it.

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