I’m impressed. Not only is Obama’s new economic committee head advisor a Korean-American, but the advisor’s a woman. WOO HOO. That just added double kudos in my book. Added to that is the fact that she’s only forty years old. Hah! Sometimes age is nothing but a number. Who says you need to be anciently old to know how to get the job done? Well, providing she does get the job done, I hope she’ll do a fine job with her new position.
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Tags: audrey choi, barack obama, choi sook nyul, east germany, fulbright scholarship, harvard, korean-american, pyongnyang, united states, wall street journal, west germany, white house fellows

Korean Title: 소년, 소년을 만나다 (Sonyeon, Sonyeon eul Man Na Da)

The Blatherings: This short film will be making its official debut into the theatrical world on November 20, 2008. Actually, this was introduced here way back in April with an interview from one of the stars in the film: Kim Hye Sung. Then last month, at the Pusan International Film Festival, the film made its “official” appearance there.

The film’s title explains the plot pretty obviously. Kim Hye Sung and Lee Hyung Jin play as two high school students who fall in love with each other. It’s considered “based on a true story”, and the film pretty much lacks one thing: dialogue. The director chose to film it in that manner because he wanted the actor’s facial expression and body language to tell the story. Whether or not this works, if it works, then kudos to the actors and the film makers for taking this angle. Actually, kudos to them for doing something like this. Korea needs to stop being so ultra-conservative!
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Tags: film, gay, hangukuh, kim hye sung, korea, lee hyung jin, romance

Thai Title: Rung tua thii paet khawng khwaam rak
International English Title: Rainbow Boys: The Movie
US DVD Title: Right by Me
Regarding the image to the left, the boys are listed as follow (from left to right) - Ek, Tat, and Nat.

Premise: Based off of Alex Sanchez’s young adult fiction, Rainbow Boys, which is about three high school boys who have their own love triangle going on, are coming of age with their transition into adulthood and their sexual orientations, and go through other difficult issues like parental abuse and homophobic abuse.

In this Thai film, it’s pretty much the same thing, except replace high school with college, and obviously replace the American setting with a very Thai one. Tat (Jackie) and Nat (Pimpong Isarasena na Ayudhya) are best friends and polar opposites from one another except for their sexual orientations. Nat’s effeminate and out of the closet while Tat’s more studious and not out of the closet, especially towards his parents. Nat likes Tat. Tat, however, likes the basketball star, Ek (Palat Ananwattanasiri), who is supposedly straight, with a girlfriend, but that’s all pretty much questioned when Tat and Nat sees Ek at a gathering for gay youth. Later, Tat tutors Ek in math, Tat comes out to his parents, Tat helps Ek through his sexual identity crisis, and Nat comes to his own terms with his own life.
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Tags: alex sanchez, film, gay, jackie, palat ananwattanasiri, pimpong isarasena na ayudhya, romance, thai, thailand, united states

OMG. This is the group that got me into KPop way back in sixth grade, in 1996 for me. This group and this particular song, their first mega-popular single. Man, this is bringing back so much memories. H.O.T., standing for High-five of Teenagers, were like Seo Taiji, all revolutionary in their own ways to change the Korean media.

While I still think Seo Taiji really paved the way for groups like H.O.T., I think H.O.T. were the ones who really made it popular. I mean, popular with a capital “p”. I mean so popular that their jerseys? The ones in the video belows? They were being sold as well as their hats. Seriously. One of my friends knew where to get those merchandises. She liked Tony, I liked Hee Jun, another friend liked Kangta, and another liked Tony as well, but we all took those merchandises, and we were even considering memorising the dance, the song, and everything and perform it at our school’s talent show. Luckily, that didn’t go through, but that’s how popular the group was.

Anyway, since I got into DBSK, I was actually looking back into the past boy bands like H.O.T. and decided that they are classic enough to warrant an entry. Anyway, watch and listen to the videos below. “Candy”, the song lyrics has NOTHING to do with the confectionery, is a happy-go-lucky song, catchy, and er . . . the boys were in very strange outfits now that I look back on it. Regardless, here’s “Candy” by H.O.T.
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Tags: h.o.t., korea, kpop, music

Pepero = Pocky = Icing covered pretzel sticks. Strangely, I find it ironic that Armistice Day, Remembrance Day, or Veterans Day also means Pepero or Pocky Day, at least for the Koreans and the Japanese. Honestly, it’s really a strange combination of a day when one stops to think about it.

I also find it ironic that as much as Korean resents Japan for what happened during the Japanese Occupation Era, Korea likes to copy Japan in more than one ways. Copying the Japanese snack of Pocky into Pepero, it wasn’t until 1994 did Pepero Day start with Japan following suit with their Pocky Day in 1999. (Having read this on Wikipedia, I am not sure if it’s accurate. Don’t hold me accountable, please!) Talk about irony on top of irony. It cracks me up.
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Tags: family mart, japan, korea, pepero, pocky

It has taken me twenty-three years to discover the godliness of Indian cuisine. I admit that I am not adventurous when it comes to food, but when I am at the point of where I am sick of eating the same crap over and over again, I will look for something different. Therefore, this past spring, one of my friends who loves Indian cuisine suggested we try Taj Palace out in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, a place she never been to before but heard good reviews of the place.

This restaurant is near Hooker Hill a red light district in Itaewon, and it’s above a transsexual bar. That made me think weird random stuff in my head. However, considering how it’s normal to see set ups like that in Seoul, especially in Itaewon, I threw those thoughts aside and went in there. It is a nice, clean place, with nice host and waiters. On Saturdays and Sundays, they have their weekend buffet, where it’s 16,500 won (about $15-16) and it’s all you can eat. The varieties is good, and along with the buffet food, we also get free naans on the side. Mmmm.

Let’s just say after my first visit there, I was forever converted into Indian cuisine fan. I love that place, and I went back more on my future visits, bringing friends with me who agreed that it was an awesome place. I guess despite its choice of location and whatnot, it’s a great Indian restaurant. See below for images of the meal from my last visit.
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Tags: hooker hill, india, itaewon-dong, korea, restaurant, seoul, yongsan-gu

Thanks a lot, Ningin. You did the most impossible thing to me. You influenced me into liking a boy band/group, something of which I shunned since my sophomore year of high school. The last boy band/group I was even remotely interested in happened to be G.O.D. Now, I like Dong Bang Shin Gi (Ki?! I like “g” better).

It all started with that Mirotic single. The song, which didn’t do anything for me at first, grew on me, and then after I paid more attention to the music video, I was hooked in a way. Then I listened to the whole album and the last song of the album, “Love in the Ice”, fully won me over with its prettiness and its awesome vocals.

However, it wasn’t until the “Dangerous Love” episode of Banjun Theatre that really cinched me to like them as a whole. The yaoi/slash implications, especially in the phone booth scene, made me swoon. Plus, Changmin/Max is just so adorable. He became my favourite member, and the image below the cut is made of the biggest, fantastic win ever.

So once again, THANKS A LOT NINGIN. You have created a monster of me! Even my close friend, when I told her about my new found love for this group, she was shocked. To be honest, I am shocked myself, but oh, this new found love is . . . so worth it. What a way to bring me back into the mainstream Korean media.
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Tags: banjun theatre, changmin, dong bang shin gi, korea, kpop, max, mirotic, music, slash, yaoi

While everyone is focused on the elections (I’m only waiting for the aftermath, the final verdict, THE ULTIMATE JUDGEMENT), I am travelling down memory lanes. With fondness, I remember my arcade gaming days. While my parents were busy with their stuff at the bowling alley, I was left on my own to entertain myself. Often, I had a book to read, friends to play with, and people to talk with. However, most of my times were spent playing arcade games or watching other people play the said games. One of the games that was popular and will forever transcend time happens to be Pac-Man.

Unfortunately, it’s a game I never quite liked along with Tetris. Those two games frustrated me more than anything else. However, the point is, Pac-Man is like Mario. Mario is Nintendo’s icon and mascot. Pac-Man is Namco’s. Whether you are a gamer or not, those two are pretty much a universal symbol. It’s pretty symbolic if something like this happened on Halloween. I mean, how awesome is that?! I think it is. It’s freaking spectacular. I only wished I was there to see it. I would have so wanted to pose with them for a picture.

Ah, such is the life of a gamer/nerd like me. I find the most random things to be made of the biggest win.
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Tags: arcade game, bowling, halloween, namco, nintendo, pac-man, tetris, video game

Korean will always be a tricky language for me. I was always able to speak Korean, but I didn’t learn how to read and write Hangeul until fifth grade. Since then, it’s been both a painful and joyful learning experience. Yes, it’s great that I can read and write it, but there will be certain aspect of the language that will drive me insane to the point of wanting to bash something.

For me, the most frustrating thing about Hangeul is these two vowel characters:ᅢ (ae) and ᅦ (e). When I learned these for the first time in fifth grade, they confused me. Phonetically, they sound the same. Graphically, they are not the same. Therefore, whenever I need to write something that uses one of those vowels, I usually end up using the wrong one. Frustrated? That I most certainly am.
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Tags: bilingual, hangeul, korea, language

One thing I never liked about when it comes to mangas is the question of box sets/bundles. Why can’t the companies release a series in a box set? The thing I hate the most is they release the first or the last volume of the series with a darn box. It’s like, hello! I don’t really care about a box! I care more about getting the whole series for a cheaper price with the box being an optional thing! Plus it’s a pain when each volumes are not at one store, so that means it’s hunting time through the net. Which is an issue for me, since I do not trust sellers who do not understand the concept of US Military shipping = US Priority Mail. However, that’s a different point all together.

With that said and done, I must say that I love Viz for thinking the way I do. Few months ago, I was debating on getting the entire Death Note manga series, all 13 volumes for myself. It’s a good thing I waited. I was perusing Amazon when I found this awesome thing in the whole world for $62.99.

I debated on getting this for a couple of days, and then after recommendations from friends and whatnot, I decided, why the heck not. After all, I did have a $50 Amazon gift certificate. <3 So now, I shall wait rather impatiently for this early Christmas present. Yay!
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Tags: amazon, box set, bundle, death note, manga, viz