2011, keep your head up!

SM Entertainment's official YT channel

...although the now-a-duo DBSK/TVXQ/Tohoshinki thinks you should keep your head down. Still gutted that the group split, but I'm supporting the breakaways JYJ as well, although my Yunho bias keeps me rooting a tad bit more for the ones who stayed.

And behold me, whose first post of 2011 is about a boyband. Oh, well. Some things never change.

I spent the first days of 2011 battling a terrible cold. I still have it, although I can now speak without sounding like a dying carburetor. Luckily my fridge is stuffed with New Year's leftovers that Mum packed for me, which I'm still eating and will probably last for another week. Trying to cook while sick isn't fun, so much thanks to Mum.

Decided not to make grandiose resolutions this year. I do have a key word, though: ORDER. I have been living in a pell-mell fashion for so long; my life could use some structure. Not that I plan to live within strict guidelines or start living a conventional life - I don't think I'd be able to even if I tried - but I realize I could be achieving so much more with a bit more discipline. (Procrastination, I will kick you to the curb!)

We'll see how I did in another 12 months.

Happy New Year~!

And so it's Christmas

Christmas tree lights at Shinsegae Department Store (Gangnam)

Aaargh! So when did this happen? It's already Christmas?
I'm in panic mode. It's because by the time the holidays roll around, I finally realize that the year is nearly over and I have to look back at my doings (and undoings) for the past year and start serious evaluation, which is something for which I'm truly not in the mood. Year's end is party time! I don't want to be all pensive and sober, so I'm procrastinating the contemplation bit for a teeny bit longer to take advantage of the festive atmosphere.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays, wherever in the world you may be.

Genius kid guitarist Jung Sung Ha plays for you:

20 years of emotion - ballad king Shin Seung Hun

Photo from Mnet

Year's end, the holidays, 'tis the season to be jolly and attend the slew of Christmas and New Year's concerts that pepper December. Although I'd like to join the enthusiastic crowd, the thought of going to and coming from the concert is very dissuading; total traffic chaos descends upon Seoul d and unless you're prepared to curse like mad while driving or curse like mad while trying to catch a cab or curse like mad while waiting to enter the jam-packed metro station or just simply spend the whole night out till morning - home is the best place to be.

Lucky for me, my favorite crooner of the '90s, Shin Seung Hun, started off his 20th anniversary tour in November and I was able to snag tickets. His Christmas show is at the COEX but the first show was held at Ilsan's Aramnuri Concert Hall, which is a more intimate setting. Perfect for Shin's style.

Shin is probably most famous abroad for having sung the theme song for the 2001 film "My Sassy Girl", but he was already known as the "ballad king" since the '90s. As I've mentioned in a previous post, K-pop wasn't always saturated with autotuned-to-the-max idol groups as it is now, there was a lot more serious singing and being a talented singer songwriter, Shin was the cream of the crop.

It's been 20 years since his debut and a commemorative album was released. Although they may be less sophisticated to the ear, I prefer his original versions:

"Your reflection in a smile", my favorite ballad

"Like the first time", a faster number

"Romeo & Juliet", the one that makes you want to happy dance

His concerts are always entertaining and his energy addictive. The zealous enthusiasm of his longtime loyal fans add to the ambiance (I realized how NOT a hardcore fan I was) and time just flies. The concert lasted for three and a half hours. (And Shin is in his mid 40s!)

Taking photos are prohibited during the concert but okay for curtain call; he took his time thanking the fans.

There is always a photozone outside the concert hall. I took a photo of the people taking photos.

Besides the Christmas shows, Shin plans to tour nationwide all next year so there's plenty of time to catch his concert. I went to the very first show where there were a couple of technical glitches so I'll probably take in another one in the spring.

Check him out : http://www.shinseunghun.com/

November melancholy

There's a November Legend in the Korean entertainment industry - it's an extremely unlucky month. Many scandals, accidents and deaths occurred during November for the past several decades.

Talented singers Yoo Jae Ha and Kim Hyeon Sik both died on the first day of November; Yoo in 1987 from a car accident, Kim in 1990 from health problems. Before the Korean music scene became peppered with well-trained autotuned-to-the-max prancing and dancing K-pop idols, there was an abundance of "real" singers. Both Yoo and Kim were the cream of the crop, and their early deaths were quite the shock to fans. (Yoo was 25, Kim was 32.)

Their music is like poetry with melodies, tinged with sadness and melancholy.

Yoo Jae Ha - Because I Love


Kim Hyeon Sik - My love near me

And so November starts.

Skillful procrastination

I have been listening to this song all day, the opening lyrics running through my head over and over, most likely because of a final deadline this week. I'm not freaking out over it, though. One thing I like about being old(er) is that I don't go maniacal stressed-out control-freak batshit crazy as much as I used to. (Hey, I'm blogging in the midst of this - proof enough.)

As the song looped on endless replay, I wondered: are there moments in life, are there moments in my life that I want to replay?

Still thinking about that one. Thankfully, it doesn't need an urgent answer, like most of the pondering I tend to do.

One more song:

Epik High

http://www.mapthesoul.com

http://www.itunes.com/epikhigh

Kim Tae Woo - Love Rain

What I've been listening to on autoplay for the past week.

Kim Tae Woo is a member of the former boyband g.o.d., and the strongest vocalist they had. This song is from his mini album T-Virus, which was released this year right after he finished his military duties.

Of Dessert and Rabbits

Finally caught up with RJ this month. I think we see one another about twice a year. Considering that there are "close" friends of mine whom I haven't seen in years, I think that's a quite good average.
I'm one of those people who firmly believe that 'no news is good news' and if I know a person is doing fine, I'm pretty okay with that. Besides, what with the interwebs and mobile phones and extra application paraphenalia, you are constantly communicating with people anyway.

Japanese ramen for lunch (which I neglected to take a picture of) and dessert at Cafe aA in Hongdae. We weren't planning on dessert but the picture in the menu looked so scrumptious we decided to share.

Wonder Molly was impressed with its grandeur.

Since it wouldn't be normal without a goofy picture of me, here I am posing in prop "bug eyes" sunglasses (aka Nicole Richie sunglasses) with one of RJ's rabbits. Why he has rabbits, I didn't ask.

RJ's radio show 'On the Pulse' is on the air weekdays. It's in English and you can listen on the internet. Check it out~!

Backtracking - June

"June is bustin' out all over~ all over the meadow and the hill~!" Isn't it eerie how you never forget the lyrics to songs that you've learned as a kid? I can sing the whole repertoire from the 'Sound of Music', for example. (Although the opening lyrics are from the musical 'Carousel'.)
Nowadays with noraebangs ("song rooms") and karaoke you hardly need to memorize lyrics anymore. But I digress.

June was strange. May was strange. Especially in Korea, with the former president committing suicide - a truly baffling wtf? incident that shook everyone to the core - and all the unrest that followed; June just seemed to pick up where May left off, carrying the emotional turmoil and turning it into an entity of its own. Bustin' out all over, indeed.

June was really strange. The country was still trying to recover from that unexpected death, North Korea was acting all weird (although it's not that much of an oddity), it was the 59th memorial anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War and then you hear that the King of Pop has died.

It was like your sense of reality was being tested. Verification of mortality thrown suddenly in your face, your brain, your being; you truly had to stop and think. Rethink. Rethink again.
I couldn't afford to think too much, though. Not only was I feverishly studying (*cough* cramming *cough*) for a WSET certification and already had too much on my plate, I was also having people problems that couldn't be ignored.

June was brutal.

Life is never lopsided, though. It is us who interpret it as we see it and sometimes we fall into the trap of viewing it completely askew. I consider myself lucky that I have an entourage who know how to knock sense into me (and I mean hardcore wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee-and-stop-being-a-moody-beeyotch slapping) so I can avoid such dilemma.

Eh. Too long emo prelude, there. I'll stop.

So, good stuff in June.
Good friend Doma opened a cooking studio. A professionally trained chef (Japanese and French cuisine) and fellow oenophile, he and his girlfriend basically organize our wine group gatherings. His studio is a great place to hang out after the "official" gathering has dispersed. A handful of us usually wind up eating and drinking and talking all night, regret it the day after, and then do it all over again the next time.

Doma's blog : http://blog.naver.com/tabledoma
(Korean only. If you have enquiries about his cooking lessons contact me and I'll relay the query.)

I took photos one night. Yes, I know, astonishing. I really need to get used to this new camera.

Specialty: plain rice onigiri.

Potato salad as midnight snack. We really did eat at midnight.

We had a simplified carbonara pasta beforehand.

Along with tenderloin steak and garlic chips.

It was cooked a perfect medium rare.

Simple chicken salad, too.

Other happy June events: went to see European Jazz Trio with tickets I got from a radio show (thanks, RJ). It was great for a drizzling evening. Not too hard, not too soft.

Backtracking posts aren't that fun, to be quite honest. The usefulness is null. Not that I intend this blog to be a spring of information, but still. You know.