Quick Review: Sungkyunkwan Scandal

Yes, I'm watching the recently broadcasted korean romance-comedy, Sungkyunkwan Scandal. The special edge that this drama has, is that the setting is actually in an earlier era of Korean history, the Joseon. Although, listen for it listen for it - this is a trendy drama, a funny, adorable fusion-sageuk. Yes.

Even though I've definitely seen this raved about all over the asian drama sites, the setting being historic just really didn't appeal to me. Furthermore, the scholar outfits of the students totally wore me out. I thought the series would be boring and tiresome to even get through one episode, but I was so wrong. Partly I blame it on the unspectacular poster and tiresome (though totally unique) drama title. And the fact that I completely confused this with Joseon X Files, which was a mystery drama also set in the same time period, AND not to mention airing at around the same time as this one.

To be frank, it's not like 360 degrees away from my initial indifference. Scandal is full of engaging characters, more than charming guys, and pretty visuals, true that. And the various useage of chinese characters definitely had a beautiful, sophisticated touch. However, one can't overlook the overall emptiness of the plot, having the main focus a) concealing the fact that there is a girl at the prestigious Sungkyunkwan university and b) finding the Red Messenger, which after watching half the series, I still haven't gotten what it is exactly.

Admittedly, I'm still very much invested in this drama, largely due to the light-hearted storyline, the gorgeous cinematography, and the bomb-tastic soundtrack. And the hotdamnsexy boys. And Park Min young's (female lead) engaging portrayal of a self-educated young lady whom is beautiful and has wit at the same time. And this drama is really making me like Song Joong Ki's playboy, cheeky side character more and more as episodes roll on.

Jalgeum Quartet (aka J4)! Does this remind anyone of a certain powerful, adorable group of eye candy? Hmm? Oh, actually more than just one. How about from You're Beautiful, even Coffee Prince? :D Yep, this is one of the gems in this drama. Look forward to it. :)

School Dances and the Jolly Season!

It's been a while.

I'm back, and happy to announce that I've attended my first dance. Yes, like I actually went up to a PERSON OF OPPOSITE GENDER and asked them to a dance! I know, I know, and I would like to give myself a pat of appreciation on the back. Haha. Honestly, it's been like two weeks after the whole dance, and I'm still taking it all in. The whole thing is just a blur. I went to the mall, and located the group. We split into teams for our day activity, which was a scavenger hunt where we'd take pictures of whatever was on the list (ex: team members doing yoga poses in front of a yoga store, a red lipstick). Which was extremely entertaining and fun. Afterwards, everyone gathered to walk to our restaurant, an italian l'restorante in fact, very exquistite looking. Outside, a band was performing on the streets, and fake snow fluttered down. Absolutely breath-taking.

So now it's winter break, and I have work shifts and parties to attend to, and let's not forget, presents i have to go shop for/make! I should really start adding cards along with the presents, I've discovered how much more meaningful just a nice little card adds to a gift.

Furthermore, I want to actually go to the cinema and watch a movie. Not just any movie, but a good movie. Since it's holiday season, I'd prefer something light-hearted, like Tangled. It doesn't really matter if it's like, kiddy, or Disney, I just want something that can sooth all those grades-related stress, and not to mention the pain-inducing SATS.

Happy holidays everyone! (: My new years resolutions will be up pretty soon.

Defining a Crush

So I'm definitely crushing on this guy (from post below). So here's my "definition" of my infatuation in context to this situation...

- you want to text him, but you don't want to sound a creeper, so you end up not texting
- your eyes scan the hallways for him whenever you come out of a classroom 
- just when your hopes are down, he walks by laughing with his friends and your eyes meet each others for a brief moment
- you try to talk to your friends enthusiastically in front of him so that it seems that you are having fun and not looking uninteresting
- you click on his fb profile a bunch of times whenever he's not on chat because you wonder if he's really on, but just not on chat
- you get all happy because he's finally texted you back, only to get "lol yeah"
- dreaming about him (yess I sure hope that's normal LOL)
- when your friend mentions his name with a teasing voice, you freeze, then realise she was talking about your guy friend with the same name

Nervous.

For SATS, for AP testing, for everything school related!! It's only a couple weeks in, and already, I'm feeling the burden. Heavy, heavy, heavy.

Another thing is the hc dance. I've never been to these dances all these years of school and really kinda want to... I'm starting to facebook chat with this guy from my grade, and somehow I think I'm starting to actually like him too! I had liked someone else prior to chatting with him, but I don't know how I'm starting to fall for him too! Crazyy stuff. He's interesting to talk to and stuff, and he's starting to look a little bit..cute too. Yea, I'm grudgingly admitting to all this.

Getting Side Bangs?

Hey!! Long time no... post. Haha. Okay, so today's labor day, which means no school! :) I'm done, like DONE with procrastination, so this means that I've already finished my homework and studying two days prior. This is a major accomplishment for me personally, so I would like to congratulate myself with a round of applause (not the pat on the back kind of crap that they would tell grade school kids to do).
So with the beginning of the second week of the school year coming up, I might do a renovation with my hair, like attempting to cut a side bangs look, similar to the one Raelyni has kindly posted a tutorial for us. My bangs are growing really long now, and reaching the end of my chin, so I'll be considering a side bangs. Yes? Sounds good?

Needa Get Some Time for Drama!!

And you know what I mean by that. Asian drama baby.
Yes, in particular, korean comedy series My GF is a Gumiho. Everything about this drama says "refreshing and bubbly and entertaining". So I must must get some time over the weekend catching up on this gem. I'm even starting to warm up to Lee Seung Ki for just being in this drama. My view for him has changed a lot. Back in '09, I was grossed out when people mentioned his name in the same sentence with the words, 'sexy' or 'amazing'. I thought he resembled a chipmunck. Didn't like him. Now I kinda do from seeing a little bit of his 'cute' side in this role.

It's so fluffyyyy - Playful Kiss first impressions

Playful Kiss number one! I just saw the first episode! I like how the director made the show have almost the same cheery, uplifting vibe as the taiwanese version. Even the songs have similar 'nostalgicy' feel!
Also, I can't say enough good things about Jung So Min's acting as Oh Hani :) She's amazing. I like how she's kind of the person who grows on you in terms of looks and personality, just like Ariel Lin who portrayed the same heroine in the taiwanese version.
On a super shallow note though, I'm also in love with the cute girls' uniforms and Oh Hani's various hairdos (must try them out, note to self haha).

Hey! Short Post about School...

Some classes like marketing or us history, love it, some classes like calculus, hate it. And some classes that should've been good, but the choice of the teachers made it horrible. Yeah, school in a nutshell for this year. Oh, by the way, I got Photography class!! Yes to running around school taking pictures!

EDIT: It's third day already, and I found that I actually find calc okay, and same thing about english class. So far. I'm raising my hand a lot more now, and I'm proud of myself for that! Haha.

Cross Country was killing me off one day at a time, but it seems, I'm hesitating while I say this - I think it's okay. At least the freeway loop (approx 3 miles) seems pretty typical now, like I'm not totally out of breath or anything. And I've learned to pace myself (this is from a girl who can only sprint, not jog)... what I do is I would have my eyes on the ground in front of me, and then count numbers starting from 1 to 1000. It really works, and completely takes out the feeling of my legs that can't go further anymore. Really helps.

Wisdom Teeth Pains and Swelling

My wisdom teeth are killing me. My gums near those teeth are swollen and feel like pillows (not in a comforting way), and I can barely even close my mouth. Especially with my case, my half-erupted wisdom tooth requires a surgeon to slice my gums and then extract the tooth bit by bit, which sounds painful and absolutely undesirable.

First Day of Cross Country practice!

Wish me luck! :) Even though it's only practice.

The original It Started With A Kiss

I'm watching bits and pieces of Itazura na Kiss, and it's not bad! The series just got uploaded to Youtube, so I checked some parts out, and I liked how the Zhi Shu/Irie character is so hot (for a 1996 drama), and the way the japanese was spoken was cute as well. Plus it's chinese AND english subbed, so that was awesome too! Just didn't like how the female lead acts overly cute/stupid, and didn't like how her ears stuck out like a monkey haha. I don't know if that was supposed to be cute or what. Having her hair all pulled behind her ears.

My GF is a Gumiho thoughts.

First impressions. The camera work is fast and the visuals are superb, likewise to all of Hong sisters' productions. Dae Woong is hilarious, and Miho is soo cute! I really like how the story is going, lighthearted and interesting.

Famous chinese fiction written by a 23 year old?

Wow, so I'm excited. It's so close to starting school, but I couldn't help to share some of the new dramas I'm into, as well as relate recent happenings, etc.

Struggle couple reunion!

First things first. I've joined Cfensi's new book club thing, where we read chapters of online version of the same chinese book, and then discuss it in a week's time. This is in our first week, and the book we are reading is Guo Jing Ming's famous Tiny Times 1.0... Interesting read so far, even though I'm usually the type of person who glances at a bunch of chinese characters, then look away because it's too much to take it in all at once. But I do find that reading a chapter a week, and anticipating a discussion every week really gets me going for that chapter-a-week goal! So that's been great :)
Also, on top of that, I downloaded a copy of 步步惊心, which is similar to Yang Mi's new drama Heartlock jade! So I'm excited to start reading that as well, love time traveling stories mixing modern city life with dynasties. Love em.
On a final note, not only I get to see Playful Kiss in less than two weeks, there's an unexpected interesting drama I'm out for now! It's called 婚姻保卫战, and I don't want to translate the title lest the meaning sounds completely awkward, but it has something to do with marriages, guarding, and battles. Best of all, we get to see a Stuggle cast reunion (at least with it's main couple), and Yuan Li (du xiao yue from iconic Qing dynasty comedy, Eloquent Ji Xiao Lan)! Excited yet? I know I am! Especially because the director is the same one who directed Struggle and Who Controls My Youth, which means.. guarenteed witty dialogues and humor!

Playful Kiss and School Anticipation!

How exciting! Counting days until school starts!

     So how do these two relate? Love with school! Not really. But I'm starting to anticipate the new school year as much as I want to watch korean drama Playful Kiss! The first trailer for the drama came out, so cute. Jung So Min is just like a korean Xiang Qin. Yesterday I went to Back to School check-in and that felt pretty awesome, though it was really hectic with all those familiar and new faces circulating about in the commons. Got a great picture for my ID though! So much better than the one I took last year, which was a mom cut, and makeup caked on my face. To be honest, it wasn't that bad, but still lots worse than having straightened, freshly washed hair and an Au Naturel face (minimalist look). Currently, I use a ghd hair straightener that I got on my birthday. I remember being introduced to the world of hair straighteners only last September! I've been using the ghd flat iron for almost a year, and although it's pricey, I do like how it doesn't jerk on my hair, it heats up super fast, and I love how it makes my hair sleek and straight. On the other hand, I've just been introduced to the Sebastian professional flat iron from itsjudytime on Youtube, and from her review, it sounds like a great choice for a quality straightener as well! Now, I'm a little disheartened to know that the Sebastian straightener is actually almost 1/3 the price of the ghd! Maybe I should've waited a year and tried to look at more reviews because that might have been a better investment. But I love my ghd, so it's all good. But for those of you who just want a flat iron that does it's basic functions, then get the Sebastian one.
     On a another note, I am quite certain that choosing to join cross country this year is going to be like jumping into a dark tunnel on purpose. Running is not only not one of my favorite sports, I hate everything about running on forest trails. Especially when the average mileage per day is around four miles. Thinking about it, I can't even run two miles without feeling blood rushing towards my mouth, loose hair from my ponytail waving in front of my face, and needing to blow my nose. I'm so unathletic, yet I can still look skinny and fit. Well that's a good thing in itself, but I hate running, exercising so much and I join cross country just to force myself into getting a little exercise.

From Dork to Hunk - Joseph Gordon Levitt

To be honest, I never cared for 500 Days of Summer until Inception changed my mind. Of course, there was all that hype about the romantic flick, but the guy seemed too boring, and the girl did too. Plus the story didn't sound anything more than a cliche. But oh did Joseph's character in Inception changed my view. Genuinely handsome, nice sexy voice too, is what his character Arthur made me think. So I went to youtube and checked out the trailer to 500 Days of Summer again, and indeed. I'm loving his husky voice. Haha, yes. I will watch it. Along with Julie & Julia.

Interesting Brand-New Productions...

Here are some interesting new dramas to really look out for by this year's end and early next year!

(宮鎖心玉) Heartlock Jade: It's a time-travel series with a girl from the 21st century back to China's Qing dynasty. Stars Yang Mi as female heroine and Yang Kuan as guest, sounds like a must watch for me! Love time travel series.
You're Beautiful: Not the korean drama, China is doing a remake of it in chinese version, and the hot dude from 8090 Jiang Chao might be the male lead here!
Huan Zhu Ge Ge: "Updated version", with some really cute idol stars, and Li Sheng (from Calling Big Star as Xiao yan Zi). Also Er Kang is going to look much nicer! Shallow me, but yay right?
Melody: A Super Junior and Dream of the Red Chamber teen cast collab. The story is modern and supposed to be chic.
Playful Kiss: Everyone should know about this one, Korea's remake of famous Taiwanese idol series, It Started With A Kiss. The new cast looks..adorable, Jung So Min is an exact replica of Ariel Lin when she giggles, it's uber sweet. It seems like they are improving on the original story, so I'm looking forward to cute moments?

My Fu Kang An...

Eloquent Ji Xiao Lan arguably introduced the seven-year old me into the world of asian dramas. It was probably one of the most addictive historical, intellectual dramas, because even at that young age, I marathoned a dozen episodes of it until 4 the following morning. And I fell in love with one of the antagonists of the show, Fu Kang An. He was a young military leader during Emperor Qianlong's reign, and often participated in He official's mischievous schemes against the scholar Ji Xiao Lan. All of what I just said must sound really confusing if you haven't seen this drama yet.

Fu Kang An (R) He's a cutie.

The point of this entry is that one of my first drama crushes was the charismatic and a tad evil, Fu Kang An, played by the now-professor at Beijing's prestigious film academy, Xiang Neng. There's always something about him, his voice, distinctively sharp and his face always alert. He doesn't seem chummy even when he's in love scenes (Pervert! I meant in scenes where he's showing love emotions). I googled this guy up, and found some of his recent idol series he's been in, and went on to preview his idol series from 2008, 凭什么爱你 (where he stars as the main supporting actor). As soon as he's on screen, I instantly flashed back to his Fu Kang An image. His voice, tone, facial expressions all resemble Fu Kang An, back in the day. Actually 8 years ago, in 2000 to be exact. I'm in love once again, haha. But I really dislike the slightly ruffled hair and goatee he sports in this drama. I have a hunch that the director purposely did that so that his true good-looks (minus ruffled hair and goatee) would overshadow even the main guy. Aishhh... such a waste of a true talent. Even though this guy is probably in his early thirties right now, he can still shine as a main lead if somebody gave him a chance! Like say, Peter Ho and Huang Xiao Ming for instance.

He's in love. That fu kang an.

Highly Anticipating Next Episodes of Unbeatable!!

Huang Kai with Ma Jia Li

Unbeatable episode 22 is driving me crazy with it's suspense, and for the first time since starting this series, I'm beginning to feel like I don't know who to trust - God's Hand, Lu Xiao Xiao's memories, or her cousin Ma Jia Li. Also for the first time, it seems like the drama has almost reverted into it's suspense/mystery aspect (just a tad). I want our cuddly romances back!! Huang Kai and Ma Jia Li forever! Yep, my favorite couple in Unbeatable. They're adorable.
And for those waiting for my drama review of this series, please be patient! It'll be up as soon as possible.

On dramabeans today... My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho gets it's first episode recap! I'm off to take a look at the series now!

Announcement of Upcoming Review and Reminiscing Pasttimes

The title says it all. I'm going to be doing a full review for Unbeatable, which I have mentioned several times previously. I love this drama, I'm my addiction is still going strong! :) Everyone should check it out on vikii! I'm one of their translators and we've subbed quite a number of episodes already, so go look for this drama!!

I really miss those days in grade school when it seemed like we had all the time in the world, and those were the times when I could watch tons of dramas, without having to skip any scenes because we had the time and energy to watch them... Now everything is so hectic, even though it's summer break...

Dramas Watched Today: Meteor Shower 2 (ep 1-2) Unbeatable (ep 15-20) Da Nei Di Shou (ep 1)

August Favorites!

Yep, I'm doing a blog version of the famous Youtube beauty guru video - the monthly product picks!
I got these items from my local drugstores and from target when I went to pick up some school supplies, and treasures they were! Now my makeup minimalist routine is just mascara + jelly balm! In case you're wondering, my previous routine was vaseline and eyelash curler, minus mascara because I've always disliked mascara for their bristley application and tons of other reasons - the mascara liquid make my lashes block my vision, and the removing eye makeup part is just icky. But I'm in love with my new Covergirl's lash exact! So I'm actually starting to use mascara again..