STORY TO BE TOLD

Secret Garden sold abroad before premiere

Upcoming weekend drama Secret Garden has already been sold abroad, more than two weeks before its premiere date. Looks like the star-studded combo of Hyun Bin and Ha Ji-won was enough to get it sold on name recognition alone. I know I’ll be tuning in to the first week just based on the cast. Well, that and to see what on earth a “fantasy-action-melodrama” is. Okay, and also to see Binnie acting like a girl, once he gets body-swapped with Ha Ji-won. Because that? Has potential.

It’s only been a few weeks since filming began, but Secret Garden has already been sold to Hong Kong and the Philippines, and deals are currently in the works for Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia to broadcast as well.

The writer-PD duo (Kim Eun-sook and Shin Woo-chul) is the same team behind Lovers in Paris, Lovers in Prague, and On Air. I’m sensing a pattern for the melodramatic here, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but I was sort of hoping for some action and some body-swapping comedy. Not slapstick, but just some moments of levity would be nice. How can you have a man and a woman swapping souls without some humor, right?

How awesome would it be if the drama was set up to be a rom-com, with the same premise? That would be So. Good. I’d be first in line to watch that. As it is, I’m not sure it’s going to be what I want it to be. I can’t get a grip on where the tone of this drama is going, so I guess there’s only one thing to do… wait and see. Sigh. I suppose TWO woongtastic sci-fi rom-coms in one drama season is too much to ask for. But! I’ve been so good this year!

Secret Garden premieres November 13.

Via Hankook Ilbo

Miss Universe Ximena Navarrete attends Heidi Klum’s 2010 Halloween Party

Miss Universe Ximena Navarrete attended Heidi Klum’s 2010 Halloween Party at Lavo on October 31, 2010 in New York City. This is the Heidi Klum’s 11th Annual Halloween Party. Check out the photos:

Miss Universe Ximena Navarrete attended Heidi Klum's 2010 Halloween Party at Lavo on October 31, 2010 in New York City.

This is the Heidi Klum's 11th Annual Halloween Party.

Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Bus owners to face action
By RACHAEL KAM and STEVEN DANIEL
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

SHAH ALAM: Police expect to take action against the owners of the company whose bus crashed at Genting Sempah last week.

Gombak OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Rahim Abdullah said action would be taken against them for hiring a driver who did not have a valid driving licence.

He added that the bus company’s business registration number showed that it was based in Perlis.

“We have yet to record a statement from the owner of the company but expect to do so within a couple of days,” ACP Abdul Rahim said after attending the police Deepavali open house at the Selangor police headquarters near here yesterday.

The driver, who is currently receiving treatment for a broken leg at Hospital Kuala Lumpur, is expected to be released on police bail today.

The bus skidded and overturned at the 38km of the Genting Sempah road on Friday, killing seven and injuring 39 others.

The driver told police he had lost his licence, but a check with the Road Transport Department (JPJ) showed that he did not have one.

Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) chairman Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique had, in a statement earlier, said that the driver S. Muthumani, 36, was employed by Taipan Suria (MM2H) Sdn Bhd and that an audit finding on the company was held yesterday to get more details on the company’s operations.

The results of the audit, she said, would be tabled on Nov 8 at a meeting of the Fatal Accident Inquiry Committee.

Sources said it was time to review charter bus licences as such buses had monopolised the industry and had affected express bus, school bus and factory bus operators.

They also said Taipan Suria, which was registered in March 1997, had four directors and had 99 active licences.

However, the JPJ’s system showed that 101 buses were registered under the company as charter buses.

The bus involved in the crash – with registration number RC 9863 – was registered on Jan 25, 1996 under the charter bus category.

It was learnt that JPJ was in the midst of investigating why the charter bus had the word Trans Holiday on it and was painted in green and white – the colours of a tour bus.

Pan-Malaysia Bus Operators Association president Datuk Mohamad Ashfar Ali suggested that bus drivers have an identity card similar to the one displayed by taxi drivers when on duty to allow passengers to report reckless drivers.

He added that the association had made the suggestion five years ago.

More news on: http://thestar.com.my/news/

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MAS soars to new heights

SUBANG: Malaysia Airlines is set to become the first full-service airline in the world to operate the B737-800 with the new Boeing Sky Interior.

The interior design is similar to that installed in the B787 Dreamliner and features the use of mood lighting to enhance passenger comfort.

Other improvements include a higher ceiling, larger windows, leather seats, touch-screen inflight entertainment units, individual power supply, bigger stowage bins and USB ports for electronics.

The aeroplane is listed at US$70mil (RM217mil) and can accommodate 16 seats in business class and 144 in economy class.

It will make its inaugural flight next Monday to MAS’ new eastern hub in Kota Kinabalu where it will be based, followed by a commercial flight to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan.

“This is a refreshing product for customers. Its interior is different, it has better technology and is more environmentally-friendly,” MAS chairman Tan Sri Munir Majid told reporters after the first Boeing B737-800 touched down at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah airport here yesterday.

Also present at the event were MAS CEO Tengku Datuk Seri Azmil Zahruddin and the three pilots who flew the plane back from Seattle, USA.

The B737-800 project flight operations manager and lead pilot Capt Muhammad Affindy Abd Rahman said everything about the aircraft, including its livery, was designed to be more economical.

“It flies higher, faster and carries more cargo than older models but is more fuel-efficient.

“The livery was also chosen because it uses less paint, thus making the plane lighter.

Capt Muhammad Affindy said the pilots enjoyed flying the plane.

“It’s like driving a BMW,” he said.

MAS has ordered 54 more B737-800, in addition to 25 Airbus A330-300 and six A380 that will be delivered in stages to replace its older fleet.

More news on: http://thestar.com.my/news/

Credits to and source taken from: http://thestar.com.my/news/