Goosebumps

So it's been maybe about 7 or 8 months since I got serious about watching Korean dramas, and I've only recently started exploring the world of K-pop. I used to think they were all just made up of the stereotypical boybands and girl groups singing silly songs, and I didn't quite understand why the guys would wear more makeup (all that eyeliner!) than the girls. My knowledge of Korean songs were limited to the ones that were part of the drama soundtrack. They were good, but there wasn't any particular artiste who stood out, until back in January when I stumbled upon the songs of Yi Seung Yeol. That was a good day.

This is a better one.

A couple of months back (early February?), I watched a KBS drama special about this middle-aged Japanese woman who travels to Korea to join a singing competition. I was drawn to the male lead in this movie, this brooding, emo young man who has big dreams, and an even bigger voice. I soon forgot about him, but his voice stuck in my brain. About a couple of weeks ago, I finished watching this K-drama called You're Beautiful, and Jang Geun-Seok was impressive, but I thought the voice with true power and ooomph belonged to the actor who played the character of Jeremy. Now that was one unique voice. There's also been this song on KBS, I don't know if you might have seen it. I think I might have seen or heard the full song on Music Bank or somewhere and it must have struck something in my subconscious, because everytime the advertisement comes on, there's this few-seconds worth of a little clip with that little line from that song, and I would always pause and look up. Something in the voice caught my attention. Looking back, I'm not sure whether this mental trigger might have happened before I watched You're Beautiful. Whatever it is, something clicked, and everytime this little riff played on the telly, my mind would go back to that emo young man in the KBS drama special, and I would wonder about his identity (again, confusing, but I can't quite remember; I might have seen this music clip before I watched You're Beautiful). Maybe even had a little tiny hunch that the emo young man and singer of this little clip might be the same person. To spare you a merry-go-round of trying to understand the proper sequence of events, let me just say this: I did a little research on Google/Wikipedia, and guess what? What I thought were three unique voices, is in actual fact, one superbly special voice!!!! They're all the same guy! The same talented actor/singer/performer of a guy. Lee Hong Gi!

This guy has one of the best voices I've heard in a long time. He forces you to sit up and take notice. He refuses to let his talent just creep off into some vague corner and hide in the shadows. He wants the spotlight. He wants the attention. He wants you to know he's talented. And perhaps more importantly, he knows he's got it, that x-factor, and he isn't afraid to show it. He's smart, he certainly knows how to whip the crowd into a frenzy, just watch any of his performances and you'll see what I mean. Every move, every glance, every smile, he knows he's got you hooked. Theatrical to the max.

이홍기, thank you for not letting me down, and for exceeding my expectations. Your voice gives me goosebumps. Not in a horror-movie stalker-on-the-move kinda way. But in the happy, I-wanna-listen-to-your-voice-all-day-long way. And I don't even care if you do decide to wear eyeliner. Because if anyone can pull it off, you can. And you'll prolly look tootin' good with it. *fangirl mode activated*

P.S. In case you're wondering, that song playing on Music Bank that would make my ears go all perky is FT Island's 지독하게 Severely (did I mention he's the lead singer in a rock band?)

Update: Felt this blogpost was rather lacklustre without an image to pretty it up, so here's a screen capture of my mobile's new lock screen wallpaper. See how pretty it is? :)

Domo-kun

Domo-kun
You sweet goon
Snarl and send me
To the moon!

You're Beautiful

No, I wasn't talking about you.

It's the latest K-drama I've finished watching, and it's one of the best I've watched so far (although in all honesty, all the K-dramas I've watched to date have been pretty darn good).

I finished You're Beautiful (also known as He's Beautiful or 미남이시네요) in the early hours of this morning, and it's the first K-drama from the Hong sisters that I've watched. And the good news? There's so much more where this came from: there are approximately 6 or 7 more K-dramas written by the Hong sisters, and from what I've heard and read, they're all worth a watch! It helps that some of these dramas star actors that I like watching, so now it's just a problem of too many K-dramas to watch, too little time!

You're Beautiful is also the first K-drama I've watched with Jang Geun-Seok and Park Shin Hye as the mains. I'll admit that I was not very interested initially (this prolly has a lot to do with a local station dubbing the drama into a different language and Jang Geun-Seok's rather girly image), but I caught a little snippet of an episode (with original language) one random night, and I was really quite pleasantly surprised: the episode was funny, and Jang Geun-Seok turned out to be quite a manly kinda man, in this drama, at least. So I decided to give it a shot and searched the first episode out on Youtube, and man, has it been an eye-opener.

Jang Geun-Seok and Park Shin Hye are great in this drama, along with a very able and adorable supporting cast. I feel like the boys in this drama could pretty much give the guys from Boys Over Flowers a run for their moolah! And the story itself is really good: there have been moments where I have almost burst out laughing because the plot took me by surprise, and was not what I would expect of a 'typical' K-drama (you know what I mean, I'm sure). Very good writing, and I'm beginning to understand the fame of the Hong sisters. I also began to understand the popularity of Jang Geun-Seok, and why he was originally intended to play the role of Gu Jun Pyo in Boys Over Flowers. This guy, he can act, and he can sing too! Which leads me to another element that makes this drama so great, in my opinion: the soundtrack is not only amazing, it actually forms a vital part of the plot, i.e. the songs are relevant to the storyline, and not just background music like most other K-dramas. The music is so beautiful, some quite hauntingly bittersweet, but that's the way I like my ear-candy!

This is pretty much all I'm gonna say about this drama, no spoilers and all, but this is what I have to struggle with now: this 'discovery' of Jang Geun-Seok and the Hong sisters means a whole new world of K-dramas has opened up for my viewing pleasure, and now I'm stuck. I don't know which K-drama to watch next. I still have about 10 episodes of Chuno to watch, but at the same time the thought of all these other great dramas out there, just waiting for me to click 'play', is constantly playing at the back of my mind, taunting and teasing.

I just hope this doesn't drive me crazy.

But that might not be such a bad thing: if they lock me up in a mad house, I have more time on my hands, which means I get to watch more K-dramas!

Muahahahahaha! Cheers you all!

It's been a while...

... since I last had one of those moments, you know what I mean: that moment when something in your brain goes 'click', and the lightbulb flicks on. Call it a moment of inspiration if you must. It happened to me just two nights ago, just as I was finishing Sungkyunkwan Scandal, and I'm afraid if you haven't watched or heard of it, this blogpost isn't gonna make much sense and is just gonna appear like a bunch of rambling crap. I enjoyed this K-drama very much, and many thoughts ran through my head, especially as the entire series came to an end. I'm not going to explain it as if this were a final essay for a film studies class, but I'll just try to make some sense of the notes I hurriedly typed out the other day.


I like the notion of how this drama is essentially about tradition versus modernity, a destiny (and dynasty) you're born into versus carving out your own path in life. The four leads (Kim Yunsik/Yunhui, Lee Seonjun, Mun Jaesin and Gu Yongha) are from different stations in life, and are all expected to live out their lives in pretty much the same way their fathers before them have (with the exception of Yunhui, maybe). What sets them apart from the rest of society though, is their fight against what is expected of them. Fighting stereotypes, perhaps? And of course, we know how interesting this can be, especially in a period drama like this, where women hold little or no role in society (more on this later). It's interesting to see how all four leads are forced to confront their fathers (fathers = tradition/old era, children = modernity/new era), and deception plays a big part in this. Kim Yunhui lies about her gender and takes on the identity of her brother Yunsik to enter a male-only university. Lee Seonjun who thinks Yunhui is a man, lies about his love for him/her, and almost ends up in an arranged marriage with a woman he does not love. Mun Jaesin hides behind the mask of the Red Writer, and Gu Yongha pretends he is a noble.

It is highly understandable then, that they should fear the revelation of their lies and disguises, but ironic that the very action of revelation leads to relief, and to what they truly aspire to in life. The things they thought to be matters of personal pride, end up meaning much less in the journey to achieving true greatness. Gu Yongha is not a true noble, but by facing up to his real social status in front of his friends (in what must have been one of the most painfully humiliating moments in the series!), he becomes truly noble, in the sense that he discovers the true strength of his character, and that there is more to being noble than just being, well, a noble. Yunhui is the only female scholar in Sungkyunkwan, but demonstrates more of what it means to be a 'real' man than most of the other male scholars, whose values are at times questionable. Lee Seonjun spends his entire life looking up to his father, but when he rebels and decides to stick up for his own self-imposed principles, discovers what it means to really live by the values his father has imparted upon him. And Mun Jaesin takes on the identity of the Red Writer in the hopes of avenging his brother, but when he finally decides to let go and put friendship first, he finds his true 'brothers'-in-arms. All these then become evidence of the irony of revelation.

I also find it interesting how the roles of men and women are so different. It seems women hold little power and sway in the Joseon period, and you can see this in the way Yunhui, Choseon and Hye-on are depicted in this drama: Choseon the courtesan has no dignity in society, Hye-on is expected to become a submissive wife and have no significant contribution to the workforce other than in the domestic realm of her future married life, and Yunhui is denied an education because she is a woman and women are not required to have an education (they're not even seen as being worthy of any sort of education). The notion of what it means to be a 'real' man is an oft-repeated theme: the drama builds on the premise of the bildungsroman, where the four leads go on a journey of growth and maturity, and they emerge as heroes at the end, but this seems only possible if one is a man. There are no heroines possible in this era, only heroes, and this can most obviously be seen in how overnight, Yunhui is branded a criminal on the basis of gender (when she would have been seen as a national hero if she were but a man). It is thus especially significant that the audience knows from the very start of the drama that Yunhui who pretends to be Yunsik is in fact a woman, and this knowledge makes the scene where she leads the other students to protest the arrest of Seonjun especially poignant and symbolic; that women, too, are just as capable of the very acts of bravery and courage that set one man apart from the other (pun intended).

This, then, is basically a story about pride and prejudice. Pride in one's social standing, nobility, family, education, and power, only for it all to account for nothing because of prejudice against 'the other', who depart from the norm of society. A person can be deemed an outcast just for being in a different political faction, or for coming from a less privileged background, or even for being born as a woman. Very interesting from an entertainer's point of view, very smart from a scriptwriter's point of view, and very relevant if you think about how some things will always remain hotly debated issues, regardless of which century you were born into.

I enjoyed the last episode of the series very much, and there were some very pleasant surprises. I liked how the Jangui chose to fight his own father (symbolic of a fight against his destiny, too?) by protecting Choseon. I like how we are given a glimpse of the future, and a very happy one at that: Yongha is a successful merchant still popular with the ladies (and using that as a business strategy!), and Yunhui and Seonjun are married and both teaching at Sungkyunkwan. My favourite moment was seeing Jaesin chasing the Blue Writer and the encounter that followed: you would have half-expected him to be the Blue Writer himself but no, he's a court officer and this in itself was unexpected and a good twist. And best of all, when he catches up with the Blue Writer, instead of arresting her and hauling her to prison, he reprimands her for her bad writing (enjoyed seeing all the corrections on the leaflet!). It's funny how he seems almost big-brotherly, and chides her for her inferior writing style, and wonders aloud about the sorry state of the current education system. And he still hiccups in the presence of a girl! What a fitting end to the whole drama!

All in all, I was very happy with this series. Good dramas should be like this: thought-provoking, with intelligent storylines and well-rounded characters. It doesn't hurt that the actors (and actresses) are all pretty on the eyes, too! *wink*

Cheers, people! It's time to scout out a new K-drama! :)

Year of Me

Oh can't you see?
This is going to be
the Year of Me!

Another year older

I celebrated my birthday about a week and a half ago, and I'm not going to wax lyrical on the events of the day, but just put up a few of my best shots of the birthday lunch and dinner I had with some friends:

This year's birthday was rather bittersweet for me. I felt rather blue for a while, and I was trying to tell myself the usual 'age is just a number' spiel. I couldn't help thinking, though, that all throughout high school my maths teachers would always drum into our heads how very important numbers were.

Here's hoping next year's birthday will be less bitter, and more sweet!

Cheers!

Eye Scare Easily

I've been having some problems with my eyes lately, especially the right one. A few weeks ago I started noticing something was wrong, when the contact lense in my right eye would tear and the entire inner corner would go red and ache. I thought it was just a problem with my contact lenses, so I chucked them and used a new pair (they're monthly disposables). I trimmed my bangs too, thinking it was some strands of hair poking at my eye that might have caused the discomfort. It seemed to work out fine for a while, until a few days ago when the vision in my right eye started going blurry at times.

I thought my astigmatisme had increased and I might need new glasses, so yesterday my dad brought me to the optometrist. My eyes were checked, and apparently there was nothing wrong with my glasses. The optometrist said my right eye looked swollen, but there was nothing he could do and he recommended an ophthalmologist.

We went to see the ophthalmologist right away, and after what seemed like the longest time (and a string of eye checks that included dilating my pupils), the diagnosis was this: there was some 'erosion' (this was the exact term the ophthalmologist used) on the surface of my eyes, i.e. small scratches on the corneas, most probably caused from the contact lenses. He said I shouldn't use my contact lenses for at least a month, and the surface of my eyes would 'smooth out' in time.

Phew. What a relief.

I'm just happy my eyes will heal.

After the initial scare, I had a lot of fun with the effects of what I like to call the 'magic eye drops'. These eye drops made my pupils dilate, and they stayed that way for a few hours. Our pupils usually dilate in darker situations to let more light in, and the size of our pupils adjust according to the amount of light available. Imagine forcing your pupils to stay that wide open for that many hours. It felt like I was high, the whole world seemed super bright and sharp, like the high definition switch had been flipped 'on' or something. I had a good time snapping pictures of my eyes while they were like that.

I even mentioned to my dad how they would look just like Edward Cullen's if they were gold-rimmed.

Cheers, people!