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..