Thursday, October 9, 2008

Little Pf is writing a little book about her little life.... all that she's seen and wants to see.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Good Taste


That Japanese guy in the background is selling organic food produce and yet he dresses so smartly and tastefully. It's such a visual treat living in a cool city like Tokyo. And especially in a neighborhood like Jiyugaoka, which feels like a Japanese version of London's Notting Hill.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

好推荐

最近电台UFM100.3有个新的节目叫 "低空飞行", 我很喜欢。有知识感性的谈话,还有很多很好听的歌,很适合简单就是美的观众。如果周末星期六中午12点至下午2点你在家,不妨听一听DJ赵婉仪自然`舒服`丰富的聊天和播歌方式。

Friday, October 3, 2008

Love of A Family...


In ep 5, we featured this very likeable family who runs a restaurant called 乌树林in 台北桃园。Sammi, the daughter and also leader of the business, is such a dedicated and serious character and her folks charming in their affable and generous ways. 钟妈妈 made us the most delicious 过桥板面that was voted no.1 on our most likeable meals countdown, while 钟爸爸 insisted on buying us dinner at his favorite Hakka restaurant. We were totally blissed out.

大自然好去处


如果你喜欢大自然,来临的学校假期,不妨考虑去O'Reily's. 我们在简单的第一辑就介绍过。O'Reily's的节目表很适合一家大小同行。http://www.oreillys.com.au/

Talk About Cool...

Peifen can look pretty cool given her laidback and unassuming demeanour.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Different Cities, Similar Qualities


The sales person who works in Taipei Eslite Bookstore (right picture) seems to remind me of this other girl, Miyuki (left picture) who stays in Brown's Field in Japan. They're both young and share a certain cultured and charming disposition.

Uber Cool



Folks from episode 6 (Tokyo) - I thought their dress sense was so refreshing and their wardrobe so well put-together. Really inspirational.

Non-stop Blabbering

Some of you wonder how come I got so much about our show to blabber on even though it has long ago ended its run. Well, I took a lot of pictures during the course of production.

Acting Required


The filming crew is usually kind enough to make life easier for our subjects. In this case, we were shooting a midshot of Peifen (meaning from waist up), so she only had to pretend to be dragging the luggage. In reality, Peifen had to struggle with the weight of the bag during most of the off camera moments. But being her good-natured self, she never once complained. A hearty meal, comfortable sleep and a good laugh was all she needed to keep her in good spirit.

A Typical Scene



To fill you in on a typical shooting set, here's a picture of what the rest of us normally do when the camera is rolling. We would, by instinct, always stay out of the way of the lens. Sometimes even cramping into a small corner if we are indoors. If the space gets too impossibly small, we totally eject ourselves from the set.

TRULY Unbelievable



This picture of the train station in 高尾山 (featured in episode 6) reminds me of a very funny incident. We were outside a MacDonald's waiting for our translator when our cameraman, Goh, who had just "patronised" its washroom, excitedly announced a hard-to-believe discovery: "The toilet in MacDonald's could tell if you're a male/female!" Everyone gasped. One of us curiously walked into the toilet and shut the door and true enough, the "female" light above it lit up. "Aiya, the counter staff must have pressed a button." Some silly voice declared, with a tone lacking in self-defence. Was that me? The rest of us somehow believe Japanese are capable of all kinds of gimmicks, so we ignored that wimpy remark. Just then, our translator arrived and the first thing we asked her was "How did you guys do it?". She returned us a look even more astonished than ours. Keiko-san followed us into the fastfood store and watched with great anticipation as we sent our only male species to demonstrate the world's smartest washroom! Goh walked in, stayed 2 seconds and stepped out. The "female" light lit up. A few more takes but he remained a "female" Gasp!.......... "Look carefully at the lights, there is another one that says "male" and it is defective!" It was a smarter voice and it belonged to Peifen. She's right, there were 2 lights and the male one simply wasn't working. So only the female one would lit up. In other words, both lights would lit up no matter if it's a male or female patron. Well, that's the So Simple team in demonstration of how simple we folks are.

Good Leadership...



... makes a good team. Seen here with Zhang (三芝小猪)is our executive producer, Huifen. The team leader she is, she sets good a example for the rest of us. Kind and unassuming, she has made our working experience with her an edifying one.

Guys Behind The Lens



Two different cameramen, two different personalities. Kevin (picture left) shot the Taiwanese scenes and the indelible impression he left me was his agility on the rocky beach in episode 3 and 4, where Peifen and 小亨利 (the carpenter) were collecting woods. I have never seen such swift and effortless movements except in Kungfu movies. He has a more quiet demeanour compared to Goh (right picture), who is more candid and enjoys chatting and joking. Apart from their difference in personality, they are both skilful and responsible craftsmen.

Simple Moments



Our two very talented and resourceful team members, Qingfen (researcher/ producer) and Diana (researcher/ craftmaster). Their relentless and supportive effort made So Simple such a well-planned and memorable production for the rest of us. Even though it's been almost a year since it ended, we still constantly hang out to reminisce our wonderful moments. So Simple is not only a meaningful show on its own, it has also given the people behind it a great chance to bond and make friends.