my ajumma notes

Immensely enjoyable, this.  Nam Ji-hyun and D.O. are well-paired as Hong-shim/I-seo and Won-deuk/Crown Prince Lee Yul.  Ji-hyun is so naturally funny, emotional, serious – nails every scene, while D.O. is impressive for a boy band guy.  Together, they make a fabulous couple, and we must credit the portrayal as well as the writing of their characters and the well-developed relationship.   Ji-hyun brings realism and pathos into how I-seo relates with all the people in her life – not just Won-deuk but also her adoptive father, her brother Mu-yeon/Seok-ha (played by Kim Jae-young), Jung Jae-yoon (played by Kim Seon-ho), her best friend Keut-neo (played by Lee Min-ji), and all the village people.  On top of that, she connects differently with each person.  Such a versatile talent! siblings finally reunited  D.O. plays his part with sufficient sensitivity (such as when he's yearning for I-seo after he has to return to the palace) and his constant “Oho” and “Am I the only one who feels u

On prodigies, it is incredible that an amazing talent like Chloe Chua emerged from here.  I’m no violin fan but as a Singaporean, I’m hugely proud of her and it is because of her that I’m listening out more for violins.     Some of Chloe's performances… 💕 Playing 'Winter' from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Op. 8 at the Closing Gala of the Menuhin Competition , 2018 (where she was joint first prize winner with Christian Li in the junior category) 💕  Playing first violin in Vivaldi's Concerto No. 10 for four violins at the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians Opening Concert in 2019 💕 Playing Beethoven's Triple Concerto at the Kids' Philharmonic Orchestra 10th anniversary concert in December 2022 (the cellist is a bit old to be playing with Kids' Philharmonic, no?)

Do You Like Brahms? (2020)   poco a poco, getting to know each other little by little I was excited about watching Park Eun-bin in another show, as well as its classical music theme.  However, there were too few proper music scenes in the first part and I stopped after four sad episodes.  It was not so much because of the missing music but more because I didn’t have the patience to wait for Song-ah (Eun-bin) and Joon-young (Kim Min-jae) to extricate themselves from separate love triangles  and  get together.  A few episodes plus another few, I assumed it would take, and that would be too many episodes of having to endure the show’s moodiness and misery, especially in Joon-young’s life (but my goodness, Kim Min-jae as a rapper 😲 ).  Also, the other four main characters did not engage me at all.  The violin repair guy was the best of the lot but that wasn’t enough.  – Do you like Brahms? – No…   I liked how the episode titles had musical terms but it was over for me at episode 4 – 

“While I have been looking at the pane, he has been looking through it.”   This book is haunting, sad, hopeful and critical all at once.   I found Cohen's writing poetically beautiful.  The story unfolds, and folds around various characters and events, but it doesn’t get chopped up by a whole lot of ‘telling’.     The plot is clever, with solid characterisation, and the family/couple theme is dealt with subtly and yet in depth.  We are not directly told Freddy is autistic, and he is never investigated or diagnosed, but Cohen offers plausible insight into the point of view of a person with autism.  The idea of alternative and experiential education is explored – in a background sort of way, mostly not directly criticised but definitely questioned – and we come away feeling like their parents’ (especially dad Neel’s) approach was to be blamed for how Freddy’s life turned out in the end.   Now, when I thought I had understood the resolution of the story, Ava reveals it is spun from ho

So funny and yet emotional, with a strong dash of palace intrigue.   First, the acting gems: Jang Dong-yoon (Nokdu), Kang Tae-oh (Cha Yul-mu), Park Da-yeon (Aeng-du) and because she won a Best Actress award for this, Kim So-hyun (Dong-ju/Eun-seo)   Hearty congratulations to the people who discovered JDY .  He brought Nokdu endearingly to life and shone as Lady Kim.  Cross-dressing roles usually just don’t work on me but JDY was too hilarious as Lady Kim, so now I won't automatically sneer at cross-dressing characters.  He easily made you root for the kind, strong, smart Nokdu as well as pretty, gentle and resourceful Lady Kim. I went through a few episodes before realising that Kang Tae-oh was Kang Tae-oh!  Must have been his black hair in this show.  He did an excellent job with the evil yet sweet Yul-mu, brooding, conniving and fiendish, while looking aghast or serious in the funny scenes.  This monster thought nothing of killing the young prince (and various others) but was also

Based on the final results, it was the tournament for the banned, ostracised, disliked and such.     I did not plan to watch either final but caught the prize-giving ceremony for the ladies’ final.  Rybakina and Sabalenka sound like level-headed, forthright sorts.    What I would have liked to see: - Swiatek and Garcia doing better than they did - Tsitsipas winning   Oh well.   I think Swiatek and Garcia will continue do well this year.  As for the men, we are probably headed for boring times, just like when Federer was winning everything in sight due to the lack of competition.   The best parts of AO 2023 for me: - Murray's two five-setters! winning against Berrettini (Getty Images) - Nadal’s baby’s Australia trip! in Sydney for United Cup (Daily Mail) Baby says goodbye to Melbourne : how effortlessly his father manoeuvres his stroller.