Mandate of Heaven Post

Click here for my review (not in-depth, pretty much just spazzing) on Mandate of Heaven

Guest Blogging

I guest blogged in kakashi's blog days ago about finding the logic behind KDramas cliches. Click here to read the post!

This is what happened...

When I realized that I have to go back to school tomorrow and will have nothing to ogle at in my office...

My Top 7 Dramas of 2012 [and Year-End Gifs Galore Party]

I know, 7 is a weird number for a list. Why not 5 or 10? And no, not because I'm obsessed with se7en either, but because 7 is my favorite number. I've always been associated with 7 all through my life. My college students ID is a square of 7 and my employee ID ended with four 7s. And don't get me started on my elementary to high school year. But.. when it comes to list your favorite things, shouldn't 7 be the perfect fit? Because you know you just want to add more to your top 5 list but you don't really want to go all the way to 10. So without further ado here goes my top 7 dramas of 2012 accompanied with gifs galore...

1. Gaksital

SURPRISEEEE!! Yes, I know this seems  to come from the left-field with the amount of Gaksital and Joo Won spazzings I have here in my blog. HA! But yes I'm sticking to my guns and letting Gaksital sail through to top the list of the dramas I've watched this year. And in case I didn't stress it enough in this blog, it also topped the list of my favorite dramas of all time. Granted, Gaksital was not a perfect drama. In fact, I still can recall some details and plot holes that felt a bit jarring: why the policeman in charge of trailing Kang To seems to always forget his main duty during pivotal moment? And how did Kang To managed to change into Gaksital's costume so quickly, was there a conveniently located magical phone booth in Gyeongseong that enables him to transform to Gaksital in just a split second? And how or rather where did he stashed his Gaksital costumes? [Some people have investigated deeply into this matter and come into the conclusion that the tightly-fitted pants seems to hold the clue..]

Finally! A Moving and Dancing Gil-ro!

Finally! A teaser for 7th Level Civil Servant is out! Woot! 

credit: sofaraway25

And yes it's a bit short and left me wanting more at the end. I mean, I just want to see his cute smile all day (yeah I know, that won't be called a teaser then)! But... I'll take a briefly moving and dancing and laughing Gil-ro any day. January 25th, why are you so far away?


P.S. After paying close attention, I think Gil-ro is the one from 00:01s to 00:05s, while Joo Won (the one who is laughing and looking a bit awkward) is the one from 00:06s to 00:10s 

Mr Dimples' Christmas Videos

So Christmas might be over, but the spirit of Christmas is still in the air especially with these two cute videos from Mr Dimples! :)
I hope these will brighten your day the way it brightened mine!

THIS Made My Day!

Ok! So today's this-made-my-day post won't be about Joo Won.. But! Another favorite actor of mine: So Ji-sub. I found these clips by chance while I was looking for videos for making gifs I plan to use in the second part to my guest post. It's an old clip from summer last year when So Ji-sub was guesting on Infinity Challenge.. And poor guy... the things the guys at Infinity Challenge do to him.. It wasn't pretty, but at the same time I was laughing my head off watching it. That dirty look that Park Myeong-soo gave him just killed me!

So Ji-sub gets lap dance

The Long Goodbye

I hate goodbyes. I hate it with a burning passion of ten thousand suns. I hate it even more when I am the one who is being left behind. I hate having people around me the day before or an hour before and then suddenly having... no one.

Two of my friends from back home left G-town today. We only know each other for a couple of months, but it felt like I was saying goodbye to two of my very dear friends. There's something about living in a foreign country that makes you even more attached to the things or people from back home. We come from the same culture, we have similar sense of humor, and that made us bond quickly.

My Top 7 1 Night 2 Days Season 2 Games

I love 1 Night 2 Days! It's definitely one of my favorite k-variety shows at the moment. I started watching this show last year even though I've been reading recaps on Dramabeans waaaay before watching the episodes. Long story short, I found a website with links to many of the episodes and 15 minutes into the episode (which I picked randomly), I was hooked! Watching these guys playing all sorts of games was like being transported back to my childhood where I would laugh hysterically at every single childish prank and silly body gag.  

At first I wanted to list my top games from 1N2D, but then I realized the infinite number of games from the first season combined with second season. So I decided to list them by season instead*. 

Here goes...

That Was Then...

When I started writing this blog, I never planned to write a serious/sad/sentimental entry. But you know how sometimes you are so overwhelmed with emotions that you just want to vent it somewhere to make you feel better? Well that is what I thought. So forgive for going all melodramatic right now. But as we all know, even the light and fluffy K-dramas have to veer towards melodramatic territory at some point, right?

I miss home. My mom. My brother. But today in particular I miss my dad. A LOT. It just one of those random times that the feeling of missing home and your loved ones suddenly swept over you. Well it's not exactly random in my case. One of my friends on Facebook just shared a link to a clip on YouTube. And what else should it be other than... Dance with My Father by Luther Vandross (Celine Dion's version). I know better that I shouldn't have listened to that song. I cried while listening to that song in a room full of people once. Imagine what kind of blubbering mess I would turn into when I listened to it by myself? Not a pretty one for sure!

Yeap.. No! I can't cry prettily with JUST one single tear rolling down my cheek

A girl does not live by latte alone. Have a spinach feta pie!

Hmmm.. My precious! Oh please, as if you never saw someone whispering "my precious" to their delicious mug of vanilla latte and spinach feta pie before.

It's Over...

Yeay! Finals is over! (I'm grinning and dancing on the inside! Wait make that doing backflips and windmill moves -it's my inside anyway!)
 

I just finished my last finals today and I almost didn't make it. Yes, after being paranoid all year round about missing an exam, yours truly ALMOST missed her finals this morning. What is that phrase again? self-fulfilling prophecy? I almost fulfilled that this morning. I thought the exam was going to be held at 2 pm, but thank God I text my friend to make sure about the time, and turned out it's at 10 freaking am! Can you imagine what would happen if I never asked my friend? 

Finals, Coding, and Stills from Level 7 Civil Servant

I'm so happy now I just passed one of my finals this semester. To be honest, I don't think I deserve to feel THAT happy judging from the amount of time (or the lack of) I've put into preparing. Sure I lost hours and hours of my beauty sleep, but most actually went to finishing my last homework and procrastinating. Yep, me and procrastination are best friends for life. Even when I realized that I only have less than 3 days to revise for my finals, I still used that time for rewatching Gaksital.. aish, hopeless! (still it was fun though!)

Pretty Joo Won as Orange Caramel

LOL! This just made my day! He's just like the cutest thing ever, isn't he?!
Btw, watch out for the hand that reject Joo Won's kiss at minute 1:40! Oh boy, you do realize that there are gazillions girls out there who would trade place with you, right?

~It's official! I have the Joo Won disease! and I don't want to be cured..~

There's nothing better than Joo Won singing Nothing Better

I have a feeling that I will turn this blog into a Joo Won and Gaksital related blog. Which... definitely not a bad thing, and who cares right? It's my blog and I can put anything I want in it. Anyway I just found this video on YouTube today... And GAH, why are you so charming Joo Won? I know for sure that you can sing, but that falsetto is just too beautiful! <3 It makes me all mushy and gushy and just every possible feeling that involves happiness! If there's a camera on me watching this, then the girl at minute 2:02 would be ME!

Dear lovely Joo Won, please put an album out already! And please remember, if you ever gonna hold a fan meeting in Indonesia, please wait until I'm back! Pinky promise, okay! Pyong!

Lazy Weekend and Rerun of Gaksital Ep 1-2

I just spent a lazy weekend after a week full of deadlines, where I got an assignment due on Monday, Wednesday, and a paper which was due on Friday at 5 PM. I watched some movies after submitting my paper and then hibernated from Friday night all the way to Saturday noon to reward myself. Then I spent the rest of my Saturday just lazying around the apartment Hotaru no Hikari style and went out for dinner to eat Pho with other lovely Indonesians and I finally got a sim card for my blackberry (yes -finally!)

OK! That should be enough as a prologue to justify my first half of blog title and let me start on what really matters.. :D I watched the first two episodes of Gaksital today. I have to say that it is still as good (if not better) as when I watched it the first time. It reminded me why I got so hooked on this drama 6 months ago (phew, time flies..)! The actions, the story, the characters, *ehem* Joo Won.. And to think that I only picked it up because the sub on Ghost (a cyber crime drama by So Ji Sub) was so excruciatingly low at that time and Gaksital was the only drama that's fully subbed by Viki? It's good decision after all to click that play button six months ago.

I just have to upload a screenshot with this Viki comment! Pfftt..

The Best Ending Scene in TV Show EVER! (at least according to ME)

I don't know why, but I'm suffering from Gaksital withdrawal these couple of days back. Maybe it's an after-effect from watching the ending of Nice Guy, which after I let it marinate for a bit while, I found that it totally irked me to the core. There are so many unresolved/unclear issues, albeit the happy ending, I'm still greatly disappointed with the way they wrapped the drama..... which brings me to GAKSITAAAALl!!

A New Blog

I just knew today that Multiply will soon lose its blogging feature as it transforms into a marketplace site*. Thus began the horrendous task of downloading all of the files in my old blog (which I've been grooming for the last 5 years! Although the amount probably only come up to what average blogger post in one year or a even a month when taking Tumblr into account -_-) and migrating them all here.

~K-Drama Sungkyunkwan Scandal [2010]~

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Romantic Comedy

Yeay! Another review. This time it’s my take on K-drama Syungkyunkwan Scandal (SKKS). It’s not a new drama. The show wrapped up its finale two months ago. I planned to write a review shortly after finishing it, but alas, circumstances forbid me from doing so. I finally got tickled to type up the review after getting my friend to watch the first 6 episodes, and tweeting about it last night. Granted, it’s not another blockbuster movie. I wanted to write a review on Buried. But since it’s a one-man-show movie, I guess I could catch up sometime by making one-paragraph-review. Ha!

Anyway let’s start with the synopsis (taken from http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Sungkyunkwan_Scandal ): SKKS is set in Sungkyunkwan University in the late Joseon era during the reign of King Jeongjo, revolving around the exploits and love stories of four youths. When her younger brother’s illness worsens and their family is in danger of being evicted from their house for lack of money, Kim Yoon Hee enters the school under his name, disguised as a boy in his desperation to support him. There, he becomes friends with the intelligent and upright Lee Sun Joon, the playboy Goo Yong Ha and rebeliious Moon Jae Shin.

Chajatta! SKKS is the crack that beat all crack dramas this year, for me. I stayed up more than 20 hours for the dramathon and to go back watching my fave scenes. I would have stayed up more than 24 hours straight if only I didn’t get Rp 70.000,- rip-off for a cramped bus on my way home to Jakarta and had to go to work real early the next morning. Yes. Sometime reality has its wicked way to interfere with the wonderful life at K-dramaland. I was so hooked on the show that I had serious withdrawal symptom after it ended (going over my fave scenes, laughing at the hilarious scene on episode 8, downloading the fanvid at youtube, making screencaps, and mooning over Moonie. Ha! Puns!). This is the show that reduced me to a 12-year-old fangirl who squealed, swooned, smiled, drooled, cheered, and clapped over random scenes. Ah, how I loved Moonie’s valiant entrance in the first episode, the fights over sleeping spots in the bedroom, Moonie’s hiccups, Moonie’s smile and sad chuckles. Yong-Ha’s cute twirls and winks, the moment Moonie get a glimpse of Yoon-Hee fair maiden body, the wonderful chemistry between the four leads, and Lee Sun Joon’s dad (oops. Did I just said that out loud?)

  

What first kindled a mild interest in me from SKKS was the setting of the drama: youth, school, student life. I always love this setting. That’s why my past beloved repertoire centered around students dorama like Great Teacher Onizuka, Dragon Zakura, Nobuta wo Produce and Gokusen. Heck, that was also the reason that drawn me to read Harry Potter. And as I recall way back, Malory Towers always holds a special spot in my heart. Anyway enough reminiscing, let’s get back to the real business at hand.

In addition to the setting, the premise (another cross-dressing plot, it’s not something new, but I always like the homoerotism overtone it creates) steered by humor, romance, bromance, intrigue, and misery made this show a one helluva ride. Not to mention the lush cinematography, and most importantly, the lovable, squeal-worthy leading characters.

Kim Yoon-Hee was a spunky yet cynical heroine. Lee Sun Joon was idealistic and righteous to the core. The perennial cutie Yong-ha was an intriguing character. He kept me guessing whether he is one of the bad guys or the good guys at the beginning. It’s interesting to watch him developed his bond of loyalty with his friends that spurred his courage.

And do I have to mention Moon Jae Shin (a.k.a Moonie)? He had me at hello. He was the vigilante who roamed the village at night to shoot arrows and letters at corrupt government officials. He had every ingredient to make a TRAGIC hero: Rough exterior? Check. Valiant? Check. Dashing? Check. Pained past? Check. Daddy issues? Check. Got the girl? Uncheck. Yes. Tragic. I guess this was why me and almost every other girl who ships for Moonie boat fell for him. His gaze as he followed Yoon-Hee home from a distance. The heartbreaking misunderstanding that ensued while he carried Yoon-Hee on his back (cruel writer-nim, giving him a piggy-ride scene with the girl he never gonna get?!) His sad chuckles when he realized that he is not the one that Yoon-Hee had her sight on. His silent retreat from the romance scene without ever making Yoon Hee aware of his feelings. It. Killed. Me. Over and over again.

Admittedly, as separate characters, they were cute and endearing. But put the four of them together and it’s awesome! It’s addicting to watch the off-the-chart chemistry from the four of them as Jal-Geum Quartet. Especially the bromance shared between Yong-ha and Moonie, which will go down as one of the greatest loves in K-dramaland. It beat the romance between Yoon-Hee and Sun Joon. I mean, I loved watching how Sun Joon was angsting over his “forbidden” feelings for Yoon Hee. And once they got together, it was really cute to watch, changing notes at the library, studying at the library, first kiss at the library. Well, they're bookworms, so it's evident that the library is their special spot. But, I was not as enthusiastic as I expected to. Maybe because I was always rooting for Moonie, but most of all, it was because I could never fully get behind their romance on an emotional level, even if I understood why they are so perfect for each other. The cynical and the idealist. They complete each other. But still, for me, it’s the bromance that kept me glued to my laptop’s screen.

The only bathos for me was the deflating ending. It has a saccharine sweet ending that was handled in a haphazard manner. As if the writer suddenly realized that the show is reaching the end and thus forced him to wrap up all of the loose plots in the last 20-minutes. But most of all, I couldn’t stand the cop-out ending where it refused to answer the ultimate question the show posed: would Yoon-Hee finally able to retain her real identity as a girl and live out her life standing tall as smart, intellectual woman amid the men? Well I can’t really tell. The ending was kinda blurred. But I hope she did. Because otherwise this whole sacrifices made by Yoon-Hee’s dad and Moonie’s hyung for Geumdeungjisa which reverberates equal education for all –an idea I would love to see being accomplished-would be wasted. And it was a letdown to not have the final look of Moonie in his mane-of-glory...

But all in all cheers for the Jal Geum Quartet and the helluva ride you guys took me in. SKKS will always hold a fond memory in my heart. :)

~JDorama Oh! My Girl!!

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Kids & Family

Finally!! I’m here with another review after almost-two-year break. Put your hands up peeps! Errr… and your feet too! (And yep you are gonna fall) So, I decided to write a review on my recently watched jdorama Oh! My Girl!! Why dorama? Why not another Hollywood movie? Well the main reason is that because I’m still stuck in a middle of nowhere. I’ve been stocking doramas from my last vacation, hence this is all I can write right now. And since I’ve always been a fan of dorama, why not eh? Anyhow, here goes…

Oh! My Girl!! has a simple yet enjoyable story about Yamashita Kotaro who was living a peaceful life as a publisher part-timer. He aspires to be a much-admired mobile phone novelist in order to publish his own novel. One day, two females suddenly appeared in his life. One is his six-year-old celebrity niece and the other is the little girl's stern manager. As he is forced to live under the same roof as the little prodigy, their differences soon manifest and disputes ensue. However, through co-habitation, Yamashita slowly comes to appreciate having a family and the warmth it brings, all the while developing a love-hate relationship with Takamine Mineko, the manager. (taken from: http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Oh!_My_Girl!!)

The plot is rather predictable. Although there are twists here and there that I didn't see coming. Some of the lines are corny but some of it was serious stuff. You see this guy who is used to have no one in his life suddenly has a little girl thrust upon him. He doesn't know what to do, how to handle her. It is endearing to watch how his relationship with Ann and also Mineko evolves. The soundtrack also perfectly suited the movie and helps builds up the sentiments during some of the poignant scenes. The dorama is also stuffed with numerous life lessons: the value of family, how to raise a kid, doing your best everyday to achieve your dream, to how difficult it is when you have to pretend to be someone else.

As for the cast, Ann is adorable. It was amusing to watch her ability to swiftly change her sophisticated-beyond-her-years-attitude into a cute, innocent little girl when she faces the reporters or her fans. Kotaro is kakkoi and well… really TALL! I think that what makes him really stand out in here. Kato Rosa is a bit lacking in depth in portraying the supporting role as Mineko. Kotaro and Ann has palpable on-screen chemistry. And, I absolutely adore Biwa, the dog. He is so adorable and one of the reasons that kept me watching. (Does anybody know what kind of dog it is? I’m guessing that he’s half poodle, am I right?)

The bottom line is there are probably other family doramas better than this. One of the reasons also involving Ozora Hinako’s voice that is starting to get on my nerves ^^. But Oh! My Girl!! is still funny, enjoyable, sweet, and all heart. While predictable in some parts, the dorama evolves smoothly and never drags. I would recommend it for anyone who likes a good family dorama!