Category: Diary

Categories
Diary

So I’ve Finally Watched Taylor Swift’s Reputation Tour on Netflix

I have been a fan of Taylor Swift since her very first country album – a self-titled album released in 2006. Back in those days, there were listening stations in HMV whereby discovering music was one of my favorite pastimes. That was 13 years ago when she was 16 and I was … let’s not go there.

I have always enjoyed watching Taylor Swift live. Every word seems to be carefully crafted and rehearsed. Every dance and every move down to the very facial expression seems to be meticulously choreographed. My wife was used to find her kind of fake. I see Taylor Swift as someone who puts in lots of hard work to be the perfect performer.

She has a few concert or film recordings.

  1. CMT Crossroads: Taylor Swift and Def Leppard (2009)
  2. Journey to Fearless (2011)
  3. Speak Now World Tour – Live (2011)
  4. The 1989 World Tour Live (2015)
  5. Reputation Stadium Tour (2018)

CMT stands for Country Music Television. I have #1 on DVD. I used to like Def Leppard and I like Taylor Swift. Putting the two together – the old (or legend) and the young, the rock and back-then country – seems like a weird choice. But it works. I love the live performance. I love the interview pieces even more. Taylor Swift received her education from the road as she toured. And it was fun to watch Def Leppard giving her the advice to life.

I do not have #2 but I do have #3 on Blu-ray. She was 22 when the concert was recorded. It was an amazing performance. I struggled to recall what I have accomplished when I was 22. I was one year away from graduating for my Master degree. When I was 22, I debated the existence of alien with my friend over late night study. We had toast with butter and sugar. We would go to bed in the early morning. Our favorite place in college would be the pub. 50 pence for a pint of beer. When Taylor Swift was 22, she had held a concert!

Fast forward to the Reputation Tour, many have changed. She is no longer a young girl but a grown woman. She is no longer the country artist that was introduced to me back in HMV. She embraces different genres of music. At the age of 29, she looks healthy on stage full of energy (you know how some artists these days look really slim and unhealthy). Still the same artist that gave an amazing performance from start to finish. So I have finally watched her Reputation Tour on Netflix. And I am loving it!

Categories
Diary

Leave Diary D12 – Converting My Car in Singapore from Normal to Off-peak (And It Was Tedious!)

Ever since we have moved to near town, our driving pattern has changed. We don’t drive during the weekdays and we struggle to find reasons to drive during the weekends. It is that convenient to stay in our new apartment.

Yesterday my wife and I hiked at Mount Faber here in Singapore (and it is more like a hill). I overheard one tourist from China commenting something like, “For such a small country, why is there no traffic jam?”

The answer is pretty straightforward. Because cars in Singapore are outrageously expensive. When I bought a new car three years ago, it cost around US$100,000 (with a 10-year car license). It is a regular Japanese salon car with 5 doors and a 2-liter engine. Because we no longer have the need to drive to work, converting my car from a normal car into an off-peak car makes sense. The savings in road tax and from rebate received per year are S$503 and S$2,200 respectively. Should I need to drive during peak hours (7am to 7pm on a non-public holiday), I just need to pay S$20 per day for a day license.

To convert the car into an off-peak car turns out to be a rather tedious process. In order for the authority to tell between a normal car and an off-peak car, off-peak car displays the front and rear number plates in red versus the black color plates. In order to deter people from switching the name plates and to trick the systems – yes, we humans always succumb to temptation since the days of Adam and Eve, figuratively speaking – the authority has derived a system whereby it is almost impossible to switch the plates at will. To do so, a new industry is born. You will see why.

  1. First stop obviously is to visit the Land Transport Authority (LTA). There is only one office in the entire country that processes this sort of request. Administrative cost is S$100. Waiting time was half an hour. I have to submit a form at the counter. The staff at the counter has to call upon an officer inside the office to verify and sign-off the transaction. Very much like most of the offline government services I have seen.
  2. Then, I needed to change my car number plates from black to red. The workshop fortunately was just opposite LTA office and it did not take long to hunt for one.
  3. The cost to create and fit a set of car number plates is $130 (inclusive of a front bracket that my car did not have). Could I do it on the spot? No I could not. I needed to buy two pins from the Inspection Center behind the workshop.
  4. What are the pins for, you may ask? Well, the front pin has to be welded onto the front part of the car. The rear pin pierces through the car door at the back. Once the front pin is secured and the rear pin hole is prepared, the staff at the Inspection Center would secure the pinheads onto the car number plates. Each pinhead comes with an engraved serial number for tracking purposes! The cost to create and fit a set of car number plates is $130 (inclusive of a front bracket that my car did not have). I drove from the workshop to the Inspector Center and bought two pins for S$22.
  5. I returned to the workshop and was told that the process may take up to one hour.
  6. So we had a cold drink at a coffee shop nearby. Today was a very warm day.
  7. The workshop called and yay! We picked up the car and drove to the Inspection Center for “sealing”.
  8. The staff at the Inspection Center took a look at the front pin and has commented that it should have been welded deeper into the car. If he was to put the pinhead now, the car would look ugly as the pinhead would protrude unnecessarily.
  9. I took the car back to the workshop and expressed my ‘personal’ opinion (the staff has asked me not to mention that the comment came from the Inspection Center). The mechanic reworked the welding. It took half an hour.
  10. Finally, I drove the car with the brand new red number plates into the Inspection Center so that the staff can seal the pins with the serialized pinheads (around 1+ cm in diameter and in depth).
  11. Are we done? No! The staff at Inspection Center has to make further inspection and to create more paperwork to ensure that the number plates are secured according to the standard set out by the authority. (As a side story, I saw an Audi R8 sports car thoroughly inspected by the staffs at the Inspection Center and the driver was a young girl whom at first glance I thought she was a boy).
  12. After received the certificate that my number plates are done up to the standard, I took the car back to the workshop so that the mechanic can install the bits and pieces of plastic taken out from the door at the back (remember, a hole was drilled so as to fit the rear pin?). By the time we were home, I was exhausted from the heat and from how tedious the conversion process is. It is indeed an industry on its own.
My wife took this picture at the workshop because she was … bored.
Categories
Diary

Leave Diary D1 – A Day of Recovery and Into the Hellgate Abyss

Since I am not taking an oversea holiday during my 2-week long holiday, I thought it is a good idea to start a journal. Otherwise, two weeks would go by and I would have done … nothing.

Since last Monday, I have not been feeling well. Doctors said it was viral fever. That is to say, no antibiotic required.

I am not a fan of antibiotic. But I have to admit the last time I was sick – not too long ago – and I was given antibiotic. I had recovered within days.

The perk of being sick – if I could even say it is a perk – is that I get to sleep a lot. My work is demanding (whose isn’t in fact here in Singapore?). The hours are long. There isn’t much time to unwind. And even in the middle of the night, I would wake up stressing over something at work. Since I am not feeling well and I am on a 2-week long break, I get to sleep a lot. So much so that my head it aches.

And that feels so good.

Long story short, I woke up in the morning feeling terrible. I went to bed at night feeling fine. So it was a day of recovery, a reminiscence of that feeling of feeling hopeless when you are in a tough situation and when you get out of it, you don’t even recall the hard time.

My summoner has taken down Oculis in nightmare difficulty.

Last entry I have talked about Hellgate: London getting a release in Steam. It is a 11-year old game – one that I was used to play in between jobs. I did not get to finish the original game. Since its recent release, I have spent close to 90 hours playing it. For a game that I have paid less than S$10, it is money well spent.

This version of the game does have it issues. But by and large, it runs. And it is perhaps the best and the most complete version that this franchise has, which includes:

  • Hellgate: London – completed.
  • Stonehenge – almost completed.
  • Second Attack – completed.
  • Abyss – completed.
  • Hellgate: Tokyo – not started.
Categories
Diary

At Dimbulah I Saw A Staff Cutting Lettuce

Dimbulah serves the best coffee in Singapore. On the ground floor of my office, there is one. I often visit because, with staff discount, it seems slightly more ‘affordable’. Just under five dollars. It is still way more expensive than the Spinelli served inside my office building. Between the two, it’s a no-brainer.

Very often, there is a long queue at Dimbulah MBFC, though the queue does move pretty fast. While queuing, most browse their phones. I … I often observe what’s going on behind the counter. One at the cashier taking orders. Two making coffee. One bringing rounds of coffee to the customers at the tables. And one more behind the kitchen counter preparing food.

The other day, as I was observing the staff behind the kitchen counter preparing lettuce. She would take a fresh lettuce out from the wrapper, lay it down on a chopping board, and then take out the core. A rather large piece of core, much larger than what I would have cut out from a lettuce. She would then examine the leaves one by one and toss out the imperfect ones. Only the best leaves would make it to the plastic containers.

No wonder a bowl of salad costs so much in Dimbulah! Quality doesn’t come cheap.

While the staff was going through lettuce by lettuce, discarding cores and leaves, I couldn’t help but think – if I could collect these discarded close-to-perfect leaves from Dimbulah on a daily basis, I could have a free vegetable dish every evening. Oh yes, I would eat that. The leaves did not look old or bad to me at all. Just less than perfect. I may discard a few. But I can eat the rest.

For the cores, I was thinking of my old rabbits back in Hong Kong. Poor rabbits, rest in peace. Had they still alive, I am pretty sure they would be happy eating these large and generous pieces of discarded cores.

Categories
Blu-ray / DVD Review Diary

Season of Gfriend – What a Treat for Fans

Confession. I am a huge fan of the Korean girl band Gfriend. It took me a while to tell the girls apart, remember their names and roles, and to recognize their voices. But after many nights of watching Gfriend on YouTube, I am there. I love their story. They came from a small recording company. I don’t think they have done that well during their debut. There had been setbacks. Online comments, some were rather mean. But they kept going. Three years later, they are one of the top girl bands in Korea with a good number of hits, won a good number of awards. Hardworking does pay off, for some. And for Gfriend, I love their choreography the most.

I have been wanting to watch them in concert. Sadly there isn’t one from where I live. The next best thing would be a Bluray recording.

There ain’t many stores in Singapore that sell Bluray discs anymore. Those that do don’t carry Season of Gfriend. In my desperation, I searched online and came across Kpopmart.com. My friend Yudha from Google+ is a fan of Korean music. I wasn’t too sure about the legitimacy of Kpopmart.com – after all, plenty of online scams these days – but he reassured me that the site is legit.

Season of Gfriend (Bluray) cost me US$53.50. There are several shipment options. I went for the ‘cheapest’ express one that cost US18. The cheapest normal shipping would be $9.20 but that would take more than two months.

Two months?!

Total damage was more than S$100. The package arrived at my condo’s concierge in less than a week. It was worth it. I am so glad that my friend Yudha has nudged me into buying it. He is right. This product is selling out fast. For the fans, this is a real treat, a must-have. It is a recording of day 2 of Gfriend‘s very first concert back in January early this year. Both concerts were sold out in minutes.

Now, onto why this recording is a must-have for fans:

  • It has a good selection of their hits.
  • The recording is divided into sections or themes, each is introduced with a short video clip.
  • Great dancing. Great costumes.
  • There is a section on solo performance! I love all six of them. All of them awe me in a different way. I am much impressed by a side of them that I have not seen.
  • Some songs have a different rendition.
  • They do tease each other in prerecorded video clips – which I find entertaining.
  • English subtitles! There is a fair bit of talking. Plenty of emotion tears towards the end. I am so glad that I can understand what they say.
  • The entire concert + video clips + talking on stage lasted more than three hours!
  • The package does come with photocard and postcard too.

I wish that my favorite track Time for Moon Light was in the song selection list. But that wouldn’t be possible because the song was released in April after their first concert. I am looking forward to their second concert recording for sure. By then, they better add that into the list!

Categories
Diary

At Times I Think I’m Talking Too Much

If someone is to ask me what are the main differences between working in my current team and my old team – besides the people in my current team are super nice, helpful and supportive – would be that in my current job, I speak a lot. Throughout the day, I talk to a lot of people. Meetings. One-on-one. Random catch-ups pondering upon work and life in general. Casual meet-ups – coffee, lunch, etc. Phone calls. More phone calls. I hardly have the time to sit at my desk for long. To stay quiet doing my work could only happen after eight or nine in the evening. Even so, someone may also be in the office at those late evening hours. Two tired souls seeking solitude from one and other.

Talk.

At times I think I’m talking too much. At times I am tired of talking, tired of hearing my own voice.

That’s why I treasure those quiet moments when I take a train to work – alone – with my Spotify. That’s why I treasure those quiet moments walking side-by-side with my wife, hand-in-hand as I enjoy her presence. Or as I quietly blog here at home, in my study room as my wife is playing Diablo 3, solo.

There is a slight problem with this picture though, is that my wife would very much prefer us to talk.

We talk, of course. Just not enough perhaps from her perspective. I think there is an overall bandwidth for our brains to facilitate oral communication. When I am talking too much at work, I am not talking enough outside work.

Work. Life. Imbalance.

Categories
Diary

On Leave Today But I’m EXHAUSTED!

It all started with a dryer.

Our new home comes with a brand new washer-dryer. 7kg washer and 5kg dryer. Obviously, that isn’t going to work for a multitude of reasons. And since our awesome interior designer has managed to relocate our washer-dryer into the service bathroom, my wife and I have bought a dedicated dryer and have it stacked onto our washer-dryer.

Buying our dryer turns out to be a bit of a drama. The one we are using in our current home is a Bosch vented dryer. It has been a fantastic purchase. The clothes come out cupboard dry, nicely ‘ironed’ except work shirts of course. We wanted to buy a Bosch condenser dryer for our new home. But we were persuaded by the salesman to buy an Electrolux condenser dryer instead. It is cheaper and just as good – so said the salesman. At first, we bought an Electrolux. Then I checked the online reviews and was horrified by how bad it was. We quickly returned and happily paying extra for a Bosch. I hope that is a wise purchase. In any case, if someone tries very hard to sell you something – ahem … like the Samsung dryer in our last visit) – something fishy must be going on.

As it turns out, the team who delivers the dryer is not the same team who stacks the dryer on top of the washer-dryer. And the appointment for stacking was today between 1pm to 4pm. Since I am going to take leave today, why not … have my car serviced … have my teeth looked into by my dentist … have my balcony door looked into (again) …

This morning, it rained. Naturally and because today was a Monday, my wife didn’t want to get out of bed. By the time I dropped her to the office, it was 9.15am. My appointment with the car servicing company was at 9.30am. My next appointment with my dentist was at 10.30am. Though I was 10 minutes late, I was able to conclude my business at around 10am. Consider the fact that there was a customer making a huge complaint because he had waited too long, I was lucky.

As I stepped out of the service center ready to fast walk to the nearest train station 10 minutes away, a man stopped me asking me if I was heading to the station. He was a shuttle driver taking customers from the service center to the station. As far as I remember, the bus schedule is only twice an hour. So today was my lucky day. Next to the shuttle stood a woman with a tattoo on her back. I recognized her as a customer. I was wondering why the driver did not offer her a ride. Maybe he had.

From Queenstown to Tanjong Pagar, it was a four-station ride. I dashed into the plaza and as always, I got lost. The dentist is located somewhere on the second floor. I passed by a Thai restaurant that I didn’t notice before. There was a Thai woman having a meal outside and she smiled at me. She may work there, may even be the owner. I wish the locals are as friendly.

My dentist limped towards me as I entered the clinic. And he seems to have aged quite a bit. The last time I saw him was 18 months ago. The last time we have met, he has moved to Penang, Malaysia. We have chatted. He has sold off his apartment in Malaysia just before the market crashed, made a bit of money, and bought an apartment in New Zealand instead. My dentist really doesn’t want to retire in Singapore. Perhaps in New Zealand, he seldom meets people. We had such a good chat, look long lost friends.

My appointment with the team who stacked my dryer on top of my washer-dryer had been brought forward. So, after my dentist appointment, I rushed to my new home, which fortunately was only 2 stations away. The perk of living near the city center eh?

And of course, I have left my umbrella at the dentist’s office. I seldom bring an umbrella as I often drive. And that was not the only time I have forgotten to bring it along with me today.

In my new home, the carpenter and I presume his apprentice was working hard. It was rather noisy and dusty. The technicians arrived and have installed the bracket to the dryer. It was much simpler than I thought.

Woohoo! I am done for the day!

I ventured out looking for food, far. Then I remembered I still have one more appointment with the condo team to fix my balcony doors.

Ugh.

So I ran back to my new home – literally – and was 10 minutes late. The balcony doors were fixed in some unorthodox ways (that involved banging the doors hard onto a wooden rod … a couple of times). I doubt it was a permanent fix. But there was it for today.

Because it was 2.10pm – what’s up with all the 10-minute blocks today?! – I have decided to have Korean food opposite my new home.

That was the starter. And I had a beer. The restaurant’s name was Bigmama. Not sure if it is worth a return!

I was still having my beer when the cashier politely approached me at 3.10pm (no kidding, it was really 3.10pm) informing me that the restaurant was now closed. I downed my beer in one gulp and left. I felt being kicked out from the restaurant. But I guess the staffs would not get paid the overtime caused by one single customer taking his time enjoying his beer. The reviews at HungryGoWhere are spot on though. Service is pretty bad and the soup dish is so-so. A lot of tofu and onions. Not enough soup.

I was exhausted, still am. But it was a productive day.

Categories
Diary

Toggle.sg FIFA World Cup 2018 streaming experience is really terrible

Here in Singapore, if you are a soccer fan like my wife, you have to pay to watch World Cup. That is sort of fine because here in Singapore, we are used to paying for things that in other countries would have been free or much cheaper. The real problem is that even as we pay, the experience is terrible. It is so terrible that we are considering making a formal complaint against Toggle.sg via CASE.

Since we have long cut the cable and do not have a TV box at home, the only option besides watching World Cup live in some public commercial establishments is to sign up for an S$112.35 (or US$83.17) package and stream it through Toggle.sg.

Screen freeze during steaming through PC

My wife has signed up for an early bird package. On the first day and for the first match, she attempted to stream from her computer. All we have got was a screen freeze, or rather a ‘slideshow’ with pictures changing every 45 seconds (yes, I have timed it).  You can’t watch a soccer game with still pictures, can you?

Could it be our network latency? I checked my Internet speed. It seems fine. And we were able to stream other videos in Toggle.sg. The only one we were unable to stream was the only video we wanted to watch – first match of World Cup 2018. The issue lies with Toggle.sg.

Immediately, I have downloaded and installed the Toggle app onto my Samsung Tab S3 tablet. My wife was able to watch the match live using my tablet and the same home network. But it was on a 9.7-inch screen. Our TV has a 42-inch screen connected to our PC via an HDMI cable.

During halftime, I managed to set up my Chromecast (that was still unopened) and have the live match cast onto my TV. The video quality is more like standard play. I don’t think my wife would mind at that point. What other options do we have?

Update: Support has contacted us. Basically, our Windows 10’s clock has to be synchronized with https://time.is/ to the exact second. For reasons beyond me, even though I set my Windows to set time automatically, it is not good enough. I have to set time manually!

Audio quality is terrible for video replay

One unique selling point of this Toggle.sg package is that we do not necessarily have to watch the matches live. We can watch the replay.

Again, video quality is more like a standard play. The sound quality is like a radio in the 50’s. Mono and muffled and full of white noise. It does give us a vintage feel though. Perhaps World Cup is timeless.

Update: Situation seems to have improved at the end of the group play. Still, we have put up with a lot of matches with very poor sound quality.

Error code 300001 while loading video replay

After work, my wife wanted to watch the Brazil versus Switzerland match replay. I fired up Toggle app on my Samsung Tab S3. The video was loaded but there was no option to cast to my TV (read: Chromecast icon was not enabled). So I restarted the Toggle app and the video could not be loaded!

I have tried my Sumsung Note 8 and it was the same error.

We then checked their FAQ and it was mentioned that we should minimize the number of registered devices – although the maximum is five (while we have registered four).

So I deregistered one of the devices and the video was loaded okay despite the usual re-cast issue!

You may think, so the FAQ works? Err … nope. How then can we explain why the video was able to load on my first attempt?

PS. I have restarted my mobile devices and force-stopped the Toggle app numerous time before even reading the FAQ (also one of the ways to get pass the issue). And nope, that didn’t work either.

Toggle app is not Chromecast friendly

On average, I need three attempts to cast Toggle onto my TV. And no, this is not a user issue. I had no problem with casting from YouTube videos on mobile devices to VLC videos on my PC.

Update: As it turns out, we need to Chromecast the app before watching the video (the opposite of YouTube). And the homepage of the Toggle.sg app does not have the Chromecast icon. We either have to re-login or head to another page for the Chromecast icon to appear. Very buggy and poorly designed app.

Toggle streaming can hang very often

We watched Portugal versus Morocco match live via the Toggle app cast to the TV. 20 minutes into the match, streaming started to hang. Each time it happened, I needed to disconnect the Chromecast and reconnect again (and yes, 3 attempts required to cast each time).

After a couple of minutes, it happened again, again, and again. Each time it hung, it took away at least one minute of the viewing experience.

Could it be my Chromecast issue?

The answer is no. We tried to watch the streaming on my Samsung Tab S3, the streaming quality was poor and was interrupted or hung every so often.

Toggle no longer works for Chromecast from knockout round onwards (replay)

After a long day at work, my wife and I would want to watch Belgium versus Japan in the comfort of our sofa.

Streaming played for half a minute before hanging for another half a minute. It was a very frustrating experience. We gave up in the end.

PS. Chromecast YouTube videos via my Samsung Tab S3 has no issue. My tablet is probably one of the highest end Android tablets in the market today.

The unavoidable spoiler for video replay

To be able to watch a replay – which by the way, the most likely reason for watching a replay is that you have yet to watch the match – in the Toggle app, you have to navigate to the World Cup page. The list of videos for the replay is at the bottom. On top is the featured story.

So you have guessed right. Unavoidable spoiler unless you have someone in the family who doesn’t really care about the match results.

In the case of my wife, she is lucky. Because I am the one who cast the video onto the TV for her.

Verdict

Toggle.sg is terrible. But here in Singapore, for those who have cut the cable, there isn’t any alternative if you wish to watch the matches in the comfort of your home.

Categories
Diary For the Geeks

Steam spring cleaning event 2018 is kind of meh

I was used to be a huge Steam fan. Mainly because I detest exclusive sites like EA’s Origin that sells games without letting people rate and review their games online. As though they have something to hide.

These days though, I am not that into Steam. Mainly because of the stupid censorship that they are imposing on games that have sexual content. In this time and ages, from Mass Effect franchise to The Witcher franchise, elements of sexual content are pretty common. Yet, Steam go after indie games that in my opinion, a good number in my game library produces some of the most tasteful artwork that has nudity. I wish there was a filter for children. And let grown-ups play what we want. I also wish there was an alternative platform like Steam for the grown-ups.

Anyways, I was sort of looking forward to Spring Cleaning Event. An event that on paper seems more fun than the daily voting in the past. There are projects to do and daily tasks to complete.

In reality, because there is a need to reinstall the games, I end up picking games with small installation footprint when I can.

I started with The Old Tree. It is a flash game and can be finished in less than 15 minutes. An adventure game that sets a baby alien free. I actually had fun with it.

To complete “Trusted Advisor”, I needed to follow a curator. I never have the desire to follow a curator. Now, I need to find out how to unfollow a curator!

The worst of it is that I have to play the first game I have added to my Steam account. It was Dirt 2. The game was so outdated that the installation has failed. On top of that, I have to manually uninstall a dated app that I had to install.

Ugh.

By the time I got to my daily tasks, I was bored. I actually got to play Bastion a bit. It seems like a decent game. If time permits, I may give this game another try.

Time, such a precious commodity.

Lastly, to make things worse, this event is not completable if you have missed the day 1 of the daily tasks – someone like me!

Categories
Diary

A Korean Odyssey – A Fine K-Drama But …

My wife and I are big fans of Korean TV dramas. A Korean Odyssey is possibly one of the finest out there. I have read the original Chinese version of Journey to the West. I enjoy the familiarities; I enjoy the Korean twists. What puzzles me most is the plot or rather, a special aspect of the plot. What follows would be classified as spoilers. If you intend to watch this TV-series, read no further (but do come back!).

Main characters are Son Oh-gong (the Monkey King) and his love interest Jin Seon-mi (the ‘female’ Buddist Monk). And then there is the Bull Demon King and his love interest Princess Iron Fan. Secretary Ma – a dog demon who is the faithful follower of Demon King. PK is the pig demon who has a rather intimate relationship with Richie – a human turned zombie and then possessed by an ancient priestess. I think PK sees Richie as a sister that he didn’t have while Richie sees PK as a boyfriend she never had.

We also have the previous incarnation of the Buddist Monk (who was actually a guy but did not make a lasting appearance) and his female guardian (who had been wanting to die but couldn’t). Last but not the least and onto the theme of body sharing, we have the siblings Summer Fairy and General Winter sharing a male body. And we have Jade Dragon (a ‘he’) taking possession of the body of Alice who was PK’s love interest.

So, what’s wrong with the script?

As it turns out, almost all female characters in A Korean Odyssey have to die at least once. Here is the breakdown.

  • Richie was murdered in a car accident and was resurrected by Jin Seon-mi or rather Sam-jang’s blood. Technically speaking, her name was Jung Se-ra.
  • Richie the zombie was killed numerous times, though she couldn’t quite die as a zombie.
  • Richie was possessed by a priestess who in the end, being vanquished willingly. That ended Richie the human, Richie the zombie, and Richie the priestess. All dead.
  • Princess Iron Fan – the love interest of Bull Demon King – has died many, many times throughout the cycle of incarnation. Until she has become … flowers.
  • Summer Fairy has to die in order to save General Winter. Technically speaking, she was dead before this story begins.
  • Jade Dragon has also died. Since all along, we the audience see ‘him’ as Alice and it was Alice who died in the show, I take the liberty of increasing the female body count by one.
  • The female guardian of the previous incarnation of Sam-jang has committed suicide using the sword that she killed the previous incarnation of Sam-jang (whom she loved) – the same sword that Son Oh-gong was supposed to use and kill his love interest Jin Seon-mi, which he did …
  • And Jin Seon-mi was killed and went to hell.
  • You could also count Secretary Ma the dog demon’s award-winning death faking scene as one.

The only female character that survives is the grandma of Bull Demon King’s son (and Secretary Ma of course). The rest of the female cast – all wiped.