Tiffany in Kimchiland

Have you heard the rhythms?

2011-02-15T02:23:00.002+08:00

My new site, Seoul Rhythms is already up and running. There are still lots to do and tidy up but it's up and running.

So, I wont be updating on this site anymore. Seoul Rhythms will have alot more interesting things happenning, like shopping, tie-ups and giveaways. So I do hope you will visit that site just as often as you do here.

I've posted about Super Junior's concert as well as Korean New Year over there. So do drop by.

See you there people!

From tiffany in kimchiland @ Seoul Rhythms ^^

Super Show Live in Singapore

2011-01-30T03:29:00.002+08:00

Super Show Live in Singapore

Were you there?

Shop@Seoul Rhythms- Secret Garden

2011-01-26T13:42:00.001+08:00

Are you having Secret Garden withdrawl? Want to listen to the beautiful songs in the drama again? Or drool over Hyun Bin and Ha Ji Won everyday? Or even relive the drama again in print? Well, you can get your fix here. Seoul Rhythms is pleased to organise the very first drama related merchandise sale direct from Korea.

Check out the merchandise on Shop@Seoul Rhythms

ONE presents Jang Hyuk on Seoul Rhythms

2011-01-26T13:36:00.005+08:00

Finally finished my posting on Jang Hyuk's visit to Singapore. It's taken me longer than usual as I'm still trying to get used to wordpress on my new site. I thought it was supposed to be really easy to use but hor...I actually spent 2 nights trying to figure out how to resize photos, post youtube clips etc. Sigh..

Anyway, here it is-

ONE presents Jang Hyuk

Enjoy!

Moving house.....

2011-01-20T02:49:00.006+08:00

Some of you may have remembered that I had mentioned changes would be forthcoming this year...and some of you (yup, some of you actually noticed...I'm so touched) that I have for the past few posts, there was a little line at the bottom that says:

Posted simultaneously on Seoul Rhythms

Yes, this Kimchiland site will be moving house soon...to

Seoul Rhythms

The new site is not quite ready. But I'm working on it and I really hope to move very soon. (I thought wordpress was supposed to be easy...haiyoh) So do bookmark that site.

Look out for exciting new developments there like shopping, giveaways and tie-ups.

More will be announced very soon, really, very soon.

So please mark that site ok?

Wintery Korea- Day 5

2011-01-17T10:04:00.006+08:00

It was the last day of the trip but 3 of us (Sarah and Carolyn) had extended for a few more days, so we would be leaving only on Monday. Still, the days seemed to have passed very quickly.

That morning, we visited Bukchon Hanok Village.

Hanok is the traditional Korean house and in Bukchon, the whole village has been preserved, much like some of the Siheyuan in China and shophouses in Singapore.

There are various Hanok villages in Korea but Bukchon was mainly for the aristocracy in the old days, hence the tiled roofs.

Some of them are still living there whereas the some have been turned into cafes, shops etc.

Even with the preservation, there are still changes in the village...modern mixing with the old.

And guess what, Son Yeh Jin's house in 'Personal Taste' was filmed in Bukchon. ^^ But no idea where though coz there are quite a few lanes and side roads within the village.

It took us about an hour of walking about but if you really want to explore the place, make sure you wear comfortable shoes...it's uphill most times.

It was really cold and we were in need of a place to escape the cold....so we went to this tea house. Now, I've spent half a day trying to figure out the name (I forgot to take the name card), so if any of you can figure out the name, please let me know? Many thanks!

It was very peaceful and calm inside the tea house. Great for refueling and or just having a morning chat with your friends.

And I couldn't resist taking photos of the toilet whilst errr....sitting on the toilet bowl. Wahahaha!

There is a great variety of tea with prices starting from 7,000won. But some seriously look more medicinal to me...

I don't have the exact address of the tea house, but I think it's near Bukchon-ro, 11-da gil. There are also Hanok Guest houses you can stay in for that authentic feel. Check out KTO"s site for a list of places to stay in.

To go Bukchon, alight at Anguk station, exit 3.

And then, we were off. There wasn't much time to say goodbye to everyone It was the end of the official trip. It has been an incredible 5 days. I've seen alot of places that I normally wouldn't haven't visited. I've also found out new places. I only wish it wasn't so rushed and I had more time to explore the various places. But the guie, Julie has been great with all the anecdotes (too bad I couldn't remember all of them) and the staff from KTO has been wonderful in making everything so comfortable for us.

The next couple of days, Carolyn and I would be on our own and we were all hyped out to do shopping and mroe shopping. Good thing it was summer or we would be seriously broke at the end of the trip. hehe!

Anyway, Sarah went off to her friend's place and the rest of the group off to Myeongdong for a bit of last minute shopping before they board the plane. Carolyn and I went to our 'home' for the next 2 nights- Namsan Park Hotel.

After the royal treatment the last few days, Namsan Park Hotel of course pales in comparison. BUT, it is clean, the room is warm, it is at a very convenient location (minutes away from the train) and within walking distance to Myeongdong (about 15 minutes). Most important of all, it was very affordable- about S$70 per night. There were quite a few Japanese tourists staying there and the receptionist speaks a smattering of English, Chinese and Japanese.

No meals included but there is a free water dispenser on each floor, plus TV, a small fridge and even a hair dryer! Not too bad for S$70 per night.

I was however, fascinated with this. Can you guess what it is? Yes, it's a bathtub. You sit (literally sit) in it. How strange.....^^

Our room wasn't ready, so we decided to leave our lugguage there and go shopping. I suggested Sinchon or to be specific, the shopping area around Ewha Woman's University, one of my fav shopping area.

To shop at this little gem, you must be prepared to explore the nooks and corners because the gems lie in the little lanes and back alleys. From shoes to accessories to clothes to bags, there is a wide range here and at affordable prices. The people patronising these shops are mainly students from the university..so they would be keen to buy a variety..to change frequently to be trendy but cannot afford the expensive range. I managed to buy a couple of cute ear-rings for 1,000won. Of course, there are the slightly higher end shops but by and large, most of the shops are mass prices.

Besides the little individual shops, there are also your usual cosmetic chain like The Face Shop, Tony Moly, It's Skin etc. I find that the staff here tend to be less aggressive and more generous than those in Myeongdong (where it can get very competitive).

One of the pleasures of being in Korea is the street food.

Sweet corn, sweet potato, bbq cuttlefish....

Fruit candy...only 1,000won

By then, we had enough walking and wanted to take a break. But we didn't feel much like eating (seriously, we were overfed the last few days) too much and then we saw this. How could we resist it's calling? Hehe!

Cafe de Museum is one of the many small, cozy cafes there. Perfect for a girlfriends chatting session or a little holding-hands session with your BF/GF.

We both ordered a cake and a drink each and look what the staff did?

This truely made our day. ^^

Carolyn and I made our way back to the hotel in the evening for a much needed shower and to check into our room. I really liked the itinerary the last few days but I was also glad to have a chance to chill out and just do things at my own time.

Later that night, wew decided to go down to Dongdaemun and leave Myeongdong for the next day.

Dongdaemun is truely a shopper's paradise in terms of hours. It is open nearly the whole day up till the early morning hour. In factm the busiest time seems from 8pm to 2am. Shopping malls there include Doota, Migliore and Hello apM. Within the big malls are small individual stores, so prices can be very competitive. However, remember to bargain. You can usually get at least a small discount off.

Street food in Dongdaemun.

If you have all the time in the world, by all means start your shopping early there but I think even a shopping addict can only do so much and by about 9+, both of us were tired and hungry, which was early for me. In previous trips, I would shop with my group of girlfriends till 1am. I must be getting old...sigh...

Shop selling children's hanboks.

We had our dinner at the foodcourt at one of the mall. I wouldn't say the food is great but it did offer a decent place to sit down.

This strange looking devise vibrates when your food is ready, so you don't have to stand around and wait. Neat huh? I think the foodcourts here in Singapore should adopt it.

To go Dongdaemun, alight at Dongdaemun Stadium Station (in my opinion, it is nearer) and sort of walk straight. If you do get lost, ask. ^^

*Quirky note: Taxis become great in demand after midnight. Be prepare to fight for them.

This post has been published simultaneously on Seoul Rhythms

Wintery Korea- Day 4

2011-01-16T16:47:00.001+08:00

The night before, we had booked into a ski resort- Konjinam Resort.

Opened in 2008, it is owned by one of the most well-known Korean company- LG. It is only 40 minutes away from Seoul, which makes it a great get-away option (especially if you are on a F&E tour). And yet, whilst I was there, it didn't feel crowded at all. In fact, there was a rather cozy feel about it. I've since found out that the resort imposes the maximum occupancy rule. What this means is that, there are no more than 7,000 skiers per day on the slop. No wonder it didn't have a 'busy' feel to it.

What I liked about the resort was actually the landscaping...I love how it didn't just feel like a ski resort. You could be in a spa resort or a romantic resort... don't you agree?

The room has a kitchenette and is spacious enough to accomodate 3-4 person quite easily without feeling cramped.

The kitchenette is great for nights when you have had enough of trying out the over 90,000 bottles of wine and just want that cup of instant noodles (there is a convenienvce store within the resort- LG25). Hehe!

*Quirky note: This resort does not provided bath towels. There are hand towels and if you ask for it, you can get bath towels BUT it is not part of the room amenities and you have to ask for it. Weird.

That morning, a few of us decided not to go skiing and instead try out the spa at the resort.

Spa la Spa has various various treatments and programmes to try. But if you are not keen, you can just take up the Family Spa package, which would allow you to use the indoor and outdoor pools.

I must admit, I was absolutely bowled over with the outdoor pool. Why? Can you imagine swimming outdoors in the middle of winter, amongst snowy mountains in the background? It ranks as one of the most memorable aspect during this whole trip for me.

There is also a Sahara Room (with hot stones and twinkling lights for effect) and a Hay Room (it really, really was full of hay. I felt like a horse lying in there but must admit it smelt rather nice) next to the indoor pool. Great for relaxation.

*Quirky note: You have to rent practically everything from the spa, including towel!!! By this, I mean the big, fluffy beach/ bath towels you often find in most hotel pools. Rental cost? Kr2,000won

Would I go back again? Yes! It has such a nice feel plus the food was pretty good too. hehe!

And then, it was off to lunch. And we were going to try one of Korea's most well known delicacy- Ginseng chicken!

Now, there are ginseng chicken and there are ginseng chicken. Some don't have the right taste, some- the chicken is not quite tender enough and some- well, you wonder where the ginseng is.

I'm very glad to say that the 삼계탕/ ginseng chicken we had passed with flying marks. Korean ginseng can be cultivated or it can be wild. Obviously, wild ginseng is very rare, much superior in taste and medicinal value and of course, very expensive.

The many bottles of ginseng....

ChonDoekBong Sansam Samgetang/ 천덕보 산삼 삼계탕 uses ginseng from the mountains (according to their namecard). Now, I have absolutely no idea if this means they are wild, or the shop itself plants them in the wild. If you can read Korean well, then click on the hyperlink to their website. But no matter what, ths chicken was delicious!

Almost all gone. *Burp*

The very pretty 'garden' at the restaurant.

*Quirky note: You are also offered a very small but potent ginseng wine. Drink at your own risk.

After this very full lunch, we headed back to Seoul for some skin care.

Frankly, I thought it would be done by one of those Korean cosmetic brand company, so you imagine my surprise when we ended up here:

Nu Plastic Surgery is located at Chungdam-dong, Gangnam-gu (yeah, that very hip and cool area). Many people do associate cosmetic surgery with Korea (including me). With the advance of Hallyu, people began wondering...does every woman and man in Korea have large eyes, double eye-lids, high nose bridge etc? It is pretty much a fact that cosmetic surgery is no big deal in Korea. I think they see it as enhancing one's look and many of these surgeries can be done under an hour- just enough time during lunch for a quick perk-me-up. And there are no ends to the rumours about which artistes had gone under the knife.

Anyway, back to the story. Cosmetic surgery is increasingly gaining popularity outside Korea and these Korean surgeons have managed to gain quite a reputation for themselves for quick, skillful work at affordable price. But with so many to choose from, how do you differenciate the quack from the professional? Well, I guess you can start with a list from Korea Tourism Organisation. It is not exhaustive and you can definitely shop around but it's a start. Nu Plastic Surgery is listed in there.

Of course, we couldn't try any of the cosmtic surgeries offered (I would have loved to try the lipo suction. ^^) but we did get to try their facial and we were all offered free botox! Seriously! But only one person in our group and the guide tried it. Hmmm.. I must write and see how's the effect like. Me? I very kiasee...I didn't want to go home looking too different. hahahaha!

Btw, if you are aiming to do a nose job (like my friend), be prepare to spend about a week there as they need to do a follow-up. But the whole procedure itself should take no more than 3 hours (I think). Good luck to those who are going to try it out.

The director of Nu Plastic Sugery.

And after this exciting segment, we were off to tamer pleasure.

Lotte World has the world's largest indoor theme park. It has an outdoor section too but I think most people try the indoor theme park. I have yet to check out the outdoor section depiste having been there about 3 times. Just as Nami Island is best remembered for 'Winter Sonata', Lotte World is best remembered for 'Stairways to Heaven'.

We were there on a Friday afternoon and the place was packed. So I think be prepared to wait a little for rides if you intend to go there during winter. Then again, you will not be subject to the elements of nature unlike a outdoor theme park.

Take a ride on their monorail and get an overview of the whole place.

Everyone sing with me..'bogoshipta..bogoshipta'.

Now the best part of Lotte World? They have a big shopping mall and a huge department store and supermarket to boot. So I went off shopping. hehe!

They were having winter sale!!! Argghhh! So many things to look at, so little time. And people, if you ever have the time, do check out the supermarket. I took a quick pick. There was a counter with a variety freshly-made kimchi plus some other food stuff I would have loved to examine further. If you don't have the time to go all the way down to Jamsil for Lotte World and you can also check out the Lotte Department Store in downtown Seoul. No amusement park but it offers 12 floors of pure shopping.

After so many days of good food, to be frank, all of us were feeling like little stuffed piggies But they had saved the best for last.

Jin jin bara serves hansik/ 한식, which is traditional Korean fare.

Real traditional Korean fare consists of many , many side dishes and just one main dish- rice. The portions are not huge as there were not meant to be filling. But hor...after about the 14th dish, I pretty much give up liao. At the last count, there were at least 20 dishes, including the main dish of rice and deseert. Please go with a very, very empty stomach. And definitely with a group of friends. This should not be attempted alone.

The hotel we were staying for the night was Hotel Courtyard Marriott, a fairly new hotel and part of the new landmark that conists of 2 huge shopping malls- Times Square and Shinsegae. It is also the nearest hotel to the airport and minutes away from the nearest subway station. Pretty conveninient if you don't are there for an overnigher and don't really want to stay at the airport hotels. However, do not attempt to travel across the han river via car on a Friday night coz the traffic jam is horrendous. It took us over an hour just to get there.

Can't comment much about the hotel except it seemed nice enough. You can't go much wrong with the Marriott brand. I would have like a little more time to check out the shopping malls. I think there's a Kyobo bookshop in one of the mall.

This post has been published simultaneously on Seoul Rhythms

Jang Hyuk- The Midas Touch

2011-01-15T10:05:00.005+08:00

Mr Jang Hyuk is set to sweep into Singapore on Monday, 17th January. This will be his second time here. He was last here in 2007 for the filming of 'Dance of the Dragon'.

No,no, he is not filming any movie here this time. He will however, be talking about his latest drama- 'Midas', which is scheduled to air in Korea on 21st February, SBS. It is a drama about M&A, about shady deals, about the corporate world, about love, about morals etc.

What's strange is that he is actually here to promote a drama that is not even on air yet.

Hmm... well...

SPE Networks (Sony Entertainment Pictures) will be launching a brand new channel in Singapore very, very, very soon. Can't write more at the moment as there is no official press release yet. BIG HINT: it is Korean related. Of course.

So are the above 2 related, let's wait and see. Hang on toght to this site, I'll be back next week for more news on this very special event.

To read more about my previous contact with Jang Hyuk and the Dancing Dragons, click on the link below:
Jang Hyuk Dancing in Singapore
Latest update on Jang Hyuk
Dancing with Jang Hyuk in Singapore
Dancing with Jason Scott Lee in Singapore
Jang Hyuk dancing in a ....foodcourt
Jang Hyuk......dancing

Wintery Korea trip- Day 3

2011-01-14T10:21:00.009+08:00

We work up bright and early the next day, we had a date at the top of the world. ^^

But first, this greeted me outside my window. Now wouldn't it be great if I can have this view everyday? The big structure, called Lumi Arte is lighted up in brightly at night. If I go back again in the other seasons, I can look forward to a spectacular musical fountain display complete with fireworks. Or maybe I could time my visit during New Year's eve for the fireworks? ^^

High1 Resort has 18 different slopes for different levels and according to their website, it's designed so that even those physically challenged will be able to ski. Now, that's what I call great designing. The highest peak is at 1,367m located at Baekwoon Mountain. How to get there? Via gondola of course.

Now the only other ski resort that I've been to is Young Pyong Resort, but it seems to take longer to get to the top at High1 Resort as there was even a stop halfway.

One of the many helpful staff ensuring people get off and on the gondolas safely. Cute isn't he?

We were busy snapping photos inside the gondola; all totally impressed with the skiers down below. I've been told that snowboarding is much harder. But don't they look cool?

It had been snowing the night before....

I can't quite describe the feeling when I stepped out into the open...everything seems so new, clean, alive and happy. Hmmm...think of a freshly washed clean bedsheet being hung out to dry in the bright sun. ^^

There was a red, heart-shaped chair near the edge, with the panoramic mountain view as the backdrop. And even little love messages at the side.
More opportunities to declare your undying love? I'm really rather amazed at this constant display of affection in public areas..

Top of the Top, a revolving restaurant at the top, gives a much needed break as we sat down for a cup of hot coffee. Unlike the one at Young Pyong, this one has no fireplace (and of course no photos of Bae Yong Joon and Choi Ji Woo). But it has a wonderful view of all the 3 moutains within High1 Resort. The design of the restaurant is clean and simple.

There are lots more to explore at High1 Resort but of course, there's no more time as we have to move on to the next destination. As a matter of interest, those of you looking for some thrills may want to check out the Alpine Coaster. Apparently, it's like a roller coaster ride. Imagine doing that high up in the mountains with the gondola just above or beside you.

Quirky note: My friend went Young Pyong for skiing in the middle of Decemeber. But she said she was there too early and they were still using artificial snow. Really? None of the snow at High1 Resort looked artificial to me. Hmmm... does that mean Young Pyong had less snowfall?

And then it was off for lunch. We seemed to be constantly eating, isn't it? hehe! Well, the cold weather is a good excuse.

So what did we have? Bulgogi + Banchan + beer!!!! A very good cobination and highly recommended.

The restaurant, 황소 해장국/Huang So Hae Chang Guk, prides itself on using only local (ie, Korean) beef. I am no beef connoisseur but it really did taste sweet... want some?

Or how about some raw beef?

On a side note...I'm really not too clear about this obsession with rae beef. Is it really better? Hmmm... I take small doses but I'm not sure about having it regularly.
*Quirky note: Apparently, you can charge more if you are selling local beef.
황소 해장국/Huang So Hae Chang Guk: 033-345-0402

And then a liitle snooze time before our next destination- more food!

Actually, we were going to Choongga for some real insight into kimchi, Korea's no 1 food. No Korean kitchen would be witout this.

The company, Chongga (which means the 1st born son of the 1st born son...and is supposed to evoke a trustworthy feel), is one of the top Korean company in the process food but what really made it's name is the ready made kimchi that it sells in billions every year worldwide. No kidding.

A quick change and then it's time for some super quick kimchi making lessons-

Together with Jennifer from K-Popped and Julie of Leisure travel magazine. Otte? We look profesionalor not? Haha!

Th seasoning waa already done for us. All we had to do was to put on our gloves and cover the cabbage completely and thoroughly with the seasoning and voila! Now keep it in cold temperature for about a week and you will have some very delicious kimchi of your own.

I had it easy as the staff was standing next to me. So she was using mine as an example. kekeke! Ok..need live demo?

*Quirky note:If you do intend to buy some delicious kimch back to your home country, be warned that you are not allow to hand carry them. So either pack them into your lugguage or buy them inside the airport transit area.

Some interesting facts - to enter the restricted area (ie, the area where kimchi is made and pack), you have to be cleaned completely. This includes not only covering your hair, and washing your hand but also making sure your clothes is clean (they go through it with a lint roller- 3 strikes and you're out). The ingrediants are subjected to just as much rigorous cleaning and inspection before they end up at your table. And if you ever wonder why that pack of fermented cabbage is not terribly cheap, it's because the seasoning of the cabbage, the packing etc are still done manually as no machine can do this part of the job well.
*Quirky note: In winter, Korean familes tend to come together to make kimchi. Of course in modern days, with so many women working, there is less time to make everything from scratch. So Chonnga will make and sell the ready made suace and the familes can just season the cabbage at home. Cleaver no?
Btw, if you are keen to take up some kimchi making lessons, KTO Singapore organises classes regularly. Give them a call if you are interested. Be fast though, I heard these classes are always filled up in a snap.

None kimchi related... I was fascinated by this bus-stop that was near Chonga.

Our last stop for the day- Everland.
I went to Everland in 2003, my very first trip to Korea. It was autumn then and full of blooming, colourful flowers.

Winter Everland has a different feel, different look. It is full of twinkling lights.

It wasn't as crowded as I remember it. But then it was cold. I'm not sure I would have visited the park if I had come on my own. Mainly because alot of the rides would not be possible. But winter does provide a different sort of enetertainment...like taking pretty photos with pretty backdrops. I'm sure everyone from the young to the old would go 'awwww......' upon seeing the bright, bright tree.

Or perhaps some shopping...

Now this will surely tempt you to step inside the store...

I can't remember if a safari existed back then but this time round, I took the chance to check it out.
On my way down to the safari.

There are not many animals inside the safari (it was a fairly short ride too). Basically, lions, bears and their highlight for this season- white tigers. BUT they were really, really, really quite close, with no barriers. The white tigers only looked on lazily with disinterest at the bus as it rumbled on. No dount thinking what a bunch of crasy humans going all excited at seeing them relaxing. The bears provided the most entertainment...begging for more food from the driver and ambling after the bus. Too bad, it was rather dark inside and none of my photos/ clips turned out right.

I guess the highlight of the day would be the Moonlight Magic parade, where weather permitting, a whole parade or lights, performances would come by at about 6.15pm. We waited and waited...it was cold...it was dark...would it happen? Or would we leave without watching it?

Shelter tent with heaters! Bliss!

And then we heard some rumblings...and slowly, people started popping up and a sort of barricade was set up. Presenting Moonlight Magic Parade! Does it make you feel like a child again?

On our way out, we could see the central stage set up and a an exciting performance going on. I would have loved to stay on. Sigh..

Goodbye Everland till next time hopefully with my little girl. I'm sure she will love you as much as I do.

This post has been published simultaneously on Seoul Rhythms

Wintery Korea trip- Day 2

2011-01-08T02:27:00.001+08:00

We were off bright and early the next morning. Our destination? Gangwondo where we will be staying at High1 Resort. But first, a temple visit along the way.

Korea's main religion used to be Buddhism, but Christianity has been on the rise and I believe it may have overtaken Buddhism. Still, Buddhisim (or aspects of it) is still very much part of their way of life.

We were supposed to visit Woljeongsa/월정사 but ended up at Bubheungsa/법흥사 instead due to time contraint.

Bubheungsa/법흥사 is located at Gangwondo, Yeongwolkun and is about 1,400 years old. Though not as famous as some other temples, it is nevertheless a very important because it is just one of 5 temples in Korea that houses the relics of Buddha.

It is huge, though it seemed to be in need of a little more loving care. We were told that the 'spirit' of the temple is very strong and many monks cannt stay in residence at the temple. Hmm...

We took a long uphill walk to the top where the main hall is located.

Quite abit of walk, so good thing it was in winter coz it was a good way of warming up.

*Quirky note: Can you hear the chanting being broadcast at the beginning of the walk up?

We stopped by this little stream/ fountain on the way up. It's water direct from the mountain top. Took a sip - it was cool and clear. No funny taste at all. I'm not sure if it's meant to have any healing powers...

See the many small Buddha statues? They were next to the fountain stream.

Because Bubheungsa/법흥사 houses a relic of Buddha, there is no statue of Buddha in the temple. (Now that's a fact I only found out at this trip).

Prayer lanterns..

Carvings on the wall just behind the main hall.

This was the meditation place as well as the final resting place for the founder of the temple. And the relic is actualy not inside the temple but somewhere amongst the mountains just behind the temple. During the turbulent times, the relic was hidden away in case lest any harm should come to it. Ok..this is one complicated temple.

Temple stay is possible here. If you are going in a large group, there will be a minium cost but if it's just one or two of you, I think the cost will be waived as the temple is not in the business to make money.

For more infor, go to their website but be warned, it's in Korean. Or you can go to Adventure Korea for a little more help. If you want to stay at other temples, check out KTO's site. Also read about this guy's temple stay at Bubheungsa/법흥사. Quite informative and gives a pretty good idea of what to expect. Click here, here and here.

Doltap/돌탑
There are bigger stone pagodas in some temples but these are personal ones, along the way to the top of the temple. I've read that you can pick a stone and place it on top of the pile, whilst making a prayer/ wish at the same time. Err...no...didn't make any wish or prayer. ^^

After that we proceeded to the hall below for some tea, especially brewed by the second top monk there using the first baby leaves, which are expensive but taste heavenly. The tea ceremony was rather simple I thought but maybe this was an informal tea ceremony?

Tea ceremony

Monk robes (I don't think I will find one that fits my size....)

After this, we went on our way to a much needed lunch.

Outside view from inside bus ^^

When we reached our lunch destination, it started to snow. For us, it would be first snow and we all got pretty excited. There would be more snow to come during the rest of our trip.

Gangwondo is well known for the fish, Pollock and it is especially eaten in abundance during winter to keep the cold away. I can certianly vouch for that because it brought much needed warmth to my body. I love the tasty soup. The spicy grilled pollock was good though I did find it just that little bit too chewy.

Does this clip make you hungry? Hehehehe! Interested in trying out this restaurant? Unfortunately, I don't have the address but you can call them.
Hwangtae Myeongga/황태명가 Tel: 033-591-5288

There are also quite a few winter related activities/ festivals in Gangwondo including a big Pollock Festival. Check out here for more details.

It was time to head to High1 Resort for my first ski lessons. But first, off to rent the required skiing attire. If you have ever been to a ski resort, you would have noticed the many ski rental shops nearby. You can rent all the necessary attire and equipment in these shops. Whilst I can't really compare on the prices, I am assuming they should be cheaper than cheaper than those from the Ski Resort. We rented from High1Skiplus

Check out the skis!

Built in 2006, High1 Resort, part of the Kangwon Land Family Resort Complex is considered fairly new. This place used to be a mining area and when the the mining industry died, they decided to make use of the natural landscape and turn it into a top notch resort.

I glanced through their website and found that it is very family oriented, providing play areas even for toddlers. If you are tired of skiing, there is a hiking trail around the hotel. And get this- You can ski in this resort all year round! Though it does seemed stramge to me that people would want to ski during summer. I am really very curious to know how is it like? Anyone game to try?

High1 Resort seems a little less crowded than Yongpyong Resort which is great if you are really interested in trying skiing.

Quirky note:A Sunny Place of the Young starring Bae Yong Joon (as a supporting role) was partly filmed here. Now If I had known earlier, I would have dug out my set of dramas and do a quick watch before going. Hehe!

Children just back from their skiing lessons.

Allow yourself plenty of time if you are going skiing coz there seems to be alot of preparations before skiing. From choosing the right skiing jacket and pants, to getting the shoes and skis to actually going up to the ski slope. I think we took almost 2 hours.

You have to measure your feet size before you can rent the shoes and skis.

I have to admit- those darn shoes are really difficult to put on because they are really, really stiff and hard and heavy. According to the ski instructor, the shoes/ski should feel as one with your leg. Right....

It was very difficult to sit down (what with the heavy and bulky attire) and putting on the skis were no mean feat. I couldn't bend down to do it (that includes a few others as well so I don't feel so stupid) and in the end, a very nice staff came over and helped us.

Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera along to the skiing lessons but here's a photo of me in the skiing attire (minue the cool looking sunglasses).

We were led to a very gentle slope by this rather cute instructor. Julie, our guide told us most of the skiing instructors tend to be young and rather good looking, so that's incentive for you if you intend to take up skiing lessons.

We were taught to go up the slope, ski down, turn and get up when we fall. My conclusion? It will take more than a couple of lessons before I can go "Wheee!" down the slope. Getting up from the ground was particularly hard. But it was a good experience and I would definitely try it again though I must admit, I had rather sore legs after the whole session. Me getting old... :(

Dinner that night was at a special restuarant- Unamjeong. The filming site of the drama, Gourmet (starring Kim Rae Won & ). Unamjeong is also the name of restaurant named in the drama. I wonder if the actual restaurant was already in existence before drama....

Anyway, the whole place was rather magical because it was snowing..

It's fine dining at this restaurant..

Bibimbap & Bulgogi

The highlight of the menu is the bibimbap, which uses raw beef. I must confess, I was a little appehensive about raw beef. But Julie kep reassuring us that it's very fresh and very safe and very sweet. So here goes...

It was pretty good. Actually, it was delicious. I'm not sure if I really tasted the raw beef as it was so mixed up with all the ingredients and the sauce but it was yummy. I finished the whole bowl!

Quirky note: Brass bowl was used because it's meant to keep the food hot longer.

Inside the restaurant

I really love the atmosphere at this restaurant but I'm curious if anyone would drive up all the way there just to eat.

It was rather early by the time we finished dinner so a few of us decided to visit the casino. Hehe!

There are about 19 casinos in Korea and the one at Kangwondo Land is the largest. Like Singapore's law, the locals have to pay a fee to get in whilst it's free for foreigners. Just show your passport at the registration counter. No photography or recording allowed though.

The place was packed...moatly with Koreans though. I spent about 45 minutes walking amongst the tables and machines and watching people play. It is rather fascinating. I did want to try my luck but as none of my companions wanted to do so, I felt a little shy. Which was just as well anyway coz me got no gambler's luck.

Quirky note: There is wifi at the hotel but only for Korean based and Korean phones. One of the guy had a Samsung phone and he was THE ONLY ONE who could receive wifi.

F&N Super Junior Dance Challenge

2011-01-06T02:03:00.002+08:00

I guess this has got to be first mega concert of 2011- Super Junior Show 3. How many of you have bought your tix already? Are you going on the 29th January or 30th January? Or both? Hehe! Finally, Singaporeans have a chnace to watch their Super Show right at their doorstep instead of flying off somewhere. Isn't that great? And they are having 2 shows!

Now, hands up those of you who wants to attend the press conference? Even better, how about appearing on their show itself? Game? Ok..read on..

F&N, one of the sponsor for the show is giving you a chance to do just that.

What to do? Do a Super Junior inspired dance (which means it has to be dance moves from any of Super Junior songs). Minimum of 1 minute and maximum of 5 minutes. Upload to youtube, submit your details to F&N and viola! You are on your way to rub shoulders with Super Junior themselves.

The winner gets to perform at the Super Junior press conference (yup, in front of all the media) and it will also be screened at the Super Junior show itself- in front of all fans. Judging from the recent JYP audition, I know there's no lack of aspiring talents. And you never know, you might just get noticed by SME.......

Samsung/SingTel 09 Super Junior showcase
How is the winner decided? 40% by popular votes (that means you and me) and 60% judges (sorry, don't know who the judges are).

Deadline is 16th Janaury, so you still got time. But hurry! Here's F&N's FB. I see one entry on their youtube already. But I know there are lots more people out there who can do the moves.

For inpiration, here are a couple of clips from their Samsung/SingTel Super Junior showcase last year. I have to admit, I was a convert after the show. They were good. Pardon the screaming girls next to me though....

For those of you who aren't up to dancing away in front of the fans and media, but want to watch these 10 boys (yup, sadly, it's just 10 boys), you can win tix (50 pairs) from F&N and MTV (5 pairs).

And if you don't want to take any chances (people like me got no luck one), then go get your tix from Sistic.

And to get you in the mood, here's a clip from the boys. They seemed excited. ^^

Clip from Samsung's FB. Presented by Samsung and SingTel.

Psst...I think Samsung will be doing some contest for those exclusive tix soon, so do keep a look out on their FB.

Wintery Korea trip - Day 1

2011-01-02T03:03:00.003+08:00

Happy New Year everyone! It's the start of 2011. Are you looking forward to it? 2010 has been a great year for Hallyu in Singapore. We've had artistes coming every month. Sometimes, up to 4 artistes in a month. Who says nothing happens in our little red dot. From all accounts, it seems 2011 will be just as happening...so start saving people. ^^

To start of the new year, I'm going to post about my recent trip to Korea, which was very kindly sponsored by the nice people over at Korea Tourism Organisation. Thanks for selecting me to go on the KTO Familiarization Trip. ^^ And these nice people always have some contests on, so do go and check out their FB and take part coz you never know when you'll get lucky...like me. : )

Anyway, I thought the following photo best sums up the feel of this whole winter trip in Korea... It snowed and snowed and snowed.... ^^

To be frank, I was a little apprehensive about this trip. I haven't been away on my own for the last 3 years and I wasn't sure how everyone would cope...especially the boss of my house- my 2 1/2 years old girl. But the lure of Korea was difficult to resist and I found myself at Changi airport at 8.30pm that night, waiting for Carolyn ((x)clusive) and Sarah (Sarah loves Seoul ) , the other 2 winners of the contest. It was going to be exciting. Unfortunately, it would also mean missing the JYP auditions, of which I was the official blogger. Thank goodness for people like bb and kandace (btw, this girl takes some awesome photos. Do check them out on her site) who helped covered the JYP auditions for me. Thanks people!

And so, at about 10.40pm that night, I found myself inside Asiana Airlines and on my way to Kimchiland.

For some strange reason, dinner was being served at 11.30pm but how to eat bibimbap at that time? So I declined and decided to catch an episode of the immensely popular variety show, 2D1N. If you don't already know, the hosts, currently consisting of Kang Ho Dong, Lee Su Geun, Eun Ji Won, Lee Seung Gi and Kim Jong Min spend 1 Night & 2 Days in different parts of Korea for every episode. Along the way, the hosts are subjected to much trails and obstacles where they compete for food and accomodation. Great fun and extremely good for getting to know a little bit more about Korea. You can catch this show on KBS World. This was the episode I was watching and it was extremely funny.

We reached Incheon Airport at 6 in the morning and had to wait for the rest (consisting of mainly travel agents) coming from Malaysia, Indonesia & Thailand. I got hungry and decided to share a bowl of porridge with Carolyn. Can't remember what I had though unfortunately (oops).
*Edit- Sarah reminded me that it was pinenut porridge. Thanks Sarah! ^^

It was nice and hot...ahhh...just the thing to have in cold weather. Brrr.... I shared it with Carolyn as the portion was pretty big for one person.

Bon Bibimbap/본 비빔밥 is part of a franchise chain and the outlet in Incheon Airport only opened in 2008. No wonder I didn't see it during my 2007 trip. There is a Bon Juk (or porridge) in KL. Hmm....I wonder if they'll open up one in Singapore. I think it should do well here. Any takers out there? hehe! It would make a nice change from all the BBQ restaurants that we have here.

Along the way to the city center, I realised I really missed Korea...

Pretty huh?
Instead of checking into our hotel immediately, our guide, Julie, decided to take us on our sight seeing tour straightaway to avoid wasting time (it gets dark earlier in winter). So we headed to Cheongwadae/청와대 or commonly known as the Blue House, which is the official residence and office for the President of South Korea.

This is the fountain in front of the Blue House. I found out that it was only recently reopened again because of G20 summit. So lucky us. ^^

Tours are conducted on a regular basis and although you can't actually go inside the buildings, you can visit the grounds outside. Check here for more information.

Along the way to the Blue House...

And the Blue House itself...so called because of the blue-tiled roof.
(side track- 'Dae Mul/대물', a Korean drama starring Ko Hyun Jung, Kwon Sang Woo and Cha In Pyo, about Korea's 1st lady President, was extremely popular)

A newly opended attraction is Cheongwadae Sarangchae/청와대 사라채, presidential musuem showcasing the Korea. It has 2 floors and numerous rooms but we visited only Republic of Korea Hall and Hi Seoul Hall. A good introduction to modern Korea in a fun and interactive way.

At the entrance of the Republic of Korea Hall...I like this.

I actually found the section on UNESCO World Cultural Heritages rather interesting. Did you know that Korea has 9 sites Cultural Heritage sites and 1 Natural Heritage site?

The Hallyu screen inside the Hi Seoul Hall... how many movies/ dramas have you watched? The only movie I was surprised to see was Lee Jun Ki's 'King and the Clown' included but it was an excellent movie and if you hadn't watch it, I seriously recommend that you do.

We were supposed to head to Gyeongbokgung Palace after this but it was really way too cold (it was -6 that morning!!). So we decided to go for a early lunch. As we were going to visit Insadong later, Julie decided to bring us to a local resturant and Gyeongho Galbi/경호 갈비 was an excellent choice. It's a nondescript restaurant but the food was pretty good. It's at the start of Insadong, on the left side (if you are coming from An-Guk station).

Singaporeans are known to love food and we demonstrated this characteristic to the fullest when the 4 of us sat down and decided that the galbi, ginseng chicken and pajeon looked just too delicious to ignore. (I didn't try the chicken so I can't comment but the galbi and pajeon were good)

Ta-da!

I've always felt that the banchan tasted better in Korea. Maybe it's the vegetables they use? Hmm...

Insadong is known as the cultural street in Korea. This stretch of road, which is closed to trafic on weekends is lined with little shops selling little trinkets, traditional gifts, art galleries and antique shops. There are no high rise buildings within this road in keeping with the culture and all signages have to be in hangul including that for Starbucks. Originally, this enclave was the residence of government officials and wealthy businessmen. During Japanese occupation, the wealthy businessmen were forced to sell off their belongings and thus started the antique & art trade. Then, at the start of the Korean democracy, many of the royal chefs and kitchen help, who were forced to leave the palace, set up shops here as well as it is very near the palace. Hence, the abundance of eateries.

I just could not resist getting this snack- hotteok/호떡, even though I've just had a full lunch. The dough is deep fried and filled with sugar or cinnamon. The unqiue point? It is a snack sold mainly during winter. Totally sinful but oh...so good. Eat it while it's hot. And be careful not to spill the fillings like I did. Only 1,000won.

Perhaps many of you may have tried waering the hanbok but Go Guan, a photo studio offers not just hanbok but the full works- including headgear, make-up, complete with the right background for photography. A totally fun way to spend an hour or two. This photo studio is nearish to the 7-11 store along Insadong.
Add: Insadong 143, 2nd Level
T: 02-790-4224

The wide range of hanboks available from sweet pink to the deep red.

Prices differ on whether you want the complete package (make-up, head gear etc), or just the hanbok.

*Quirky note: We had to take off our jeans and top as we had to wear a inner white garment first that included a skirt.

어떻게? Do I look like royalty? Actually, according to the staff there, I'm dressed as a new bride. Wahaha!

We went around the studio (which had various backdrops) and snapped away in our hanbok and pretended we were Hwang Ji-ni. Obviously, the 2 men in our group did not partake in this at all. Go in small groups as they were in a fluster when the 10 of us decided to do this.

After Insadong, we headed to Namsan Tower or N Seoul Tower as it is called now.

I haven't been to N Seoul Tower for a long time but if it's your first time there, it offers you a great view of Seoul and it's vicinity. Unfortunately, to see this view, you got to to climb first (well, it is on a hill)....so here we go...wear comfortable shoes.

The panoramic view from the top of the tower..the view of the Han River is worth the climb.

It seems to be a popular spot not just with the tourists but also the Koreans as the place was packed that day, despite it being a Tuesday afternoon. There are very nice cafes/ restaurants at the top, though I'm guessing it's pretty crowded most of the time and oh...there is a Nature Republic store too...with standees of JYJ and Rain.

The Love Message Tile was started in 2008 at the Tower. Get a mini tile, declare your undying love for each other and post it for the world to read. I'm not sure how much it cost but you can get it from the souvenir shops.

N Seoul Tower has always been known to be a romantic spot especially for lovers and many dramas have been filmed here including 'Boys Over Flowers', 'Beautiful Days' and the recent 'Dr Champs'

Another way to declare undying love amongst lovers- Locks of Love. At the terrace of the tower, couples write a message and their names on the padlock and lock their 'love' before throwing away the key....Again, you can get the lock from the gift shop.

And after the giddying heights of Namsan Tower, we're off to see the giddying heights of Korean martial arts. Korea is pretty well known for it's non-verbal performance. Think Nanta, Break out, 'The Chaser', Sachoom and Jump. All these performances combine dance, comedy and martial arts rolled into one. And because it's non-verbal, anyone can understand the story.

JUMP at JUMP Theatre in Seoul

I've already watched JUMP at The Esplanade last year but it was still fun to watch it again. There is no plot just a simple story about this 'simple' family...who just happens to be really good martial arts. The uncle is the 'joker' but watch out for the 'old man' narrating the story. Trust me, you won't fall asleep.

*Quirky note: If you are a foreigner and sits at the aisle, be prepared to be called on stage for some interaction. hehe!

The cast of Jump...which changes daily. You can get their signatures after the performance. I was too shy....

That night, we checked into Best Western Premier Hotel Kukdo. It was nice and roomy enough. Although there are no shopping near the hotel, it is only minutes away from the nearest subway station and very near dongdaemun and myeongdong. I took a look at the rates- not too bad for it's location. I like the basin.... which is location outside the bathroom. ^^

I couldn't resist a quick trip to Meyongdong that night, seeing as I was so near it. So a few of us took the train down. It's even easier now to buy the tickets from the ticket vending machine. There are 4 languages available on the machine- English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Select the language you want and then select the station you want to drop off. Insert the money and ta-da! You've got your ticket. At the end of the journey, after you've got out of the station, just pop the card into the refund machine and you will get 500won back. These tickets are only good for single journey. Or you can also get your ticket from the ticketing booth.

*Quirky note: Unlike Singapore, there is normally a magazine booth right inside the station itself, so if you do get bored, you can get a magazine or a newspaper to read. Also, the Koreans do observe quite strictly the rule about seats being reserved for those in need, so try not to sit in them if possible.

Myeongdong at night in winter.

Christmas time!

More soon!

[Guest Blogger] Song Joong Ki for TM | Fansign

2010-12-25T21:46:00.002+08:00

This post has been posted by BB on SEOUL 23:59 simultaneously.

Annyong! This is the last installment on SONG JOONG KI's Singapore visit for TONYMOLY. Just in case you didn't know, he'd already left town in the morning of 21st Dec (Tue). He had left via the CIP (Commercially Important Person) exit, so there're no photographs of his departure.

This post will be on his last official event during his stay here, yea, the fansign event that took place at Bugis Junction on 20th Dec (Mon) at 4pm.

This is how the fansign area looked like. There were rows of barricades so that people could be assigned and confined within certain sections. The front-most section was reserved for people with media passes, and unlike the earlier press conference, the media pass holders for the fansign were mainly the online media. Yup, am referring to the Kpop news portals, etc.

The next barricaded section after the media section was reserved for the 100 lucky winners for the autograph passes. These fans would have a chance to go on-stage for SJK's autograph.

Fans without passes could stand behind those with the autograph passes, or they would squeeze at the side whereby they could see SJK from a closer distance, but from the side.

Gotta applaud TonyMoly for their careful all-inclusive planning such that there were ample opportunities for fans to see SJK even if they were not lucky enough to win passes to attend the fansign event.

Guess what? There were fans waiting hours before the fansign event. Aigoo, it was so hot, so hot, so hot! Ahhh... the love for an idol!

I went to the fansign event rather late and the host LI YI was already on-stage by the time i got into the media area. The media area was not very crowded; believe there were fewer than 20 people and there was plenty of room for everyone.

Here's a picture of the fans who were standing just behind the media area. (Just in case you were going to tell me the picture's blurry, well, it's deliberate^^)

And here's a picture of the fans standing at the side near the stage.

It wasn't long before SJK appeared on-stage.

Omo, there was so much screaming from the fans when he appeared! In fact, the screaming continued for a good ten minutes when Li Yi was chatting with SJK on-stage.

Before SJK settled down at the table to start the fansign, there were some 'admin stuff' to take care of. First up were two representatives from the fanclub to present him with their Christmas pressie and a book of fans' messages.

Here, you can see SJK watching the fans as they walked up the steps to go on-stage. Don't ask me why he's puffed up his face like that, but omo, so cute!!

The two gals were so shy, especially the one with the short bob and light denim shirt! Song Joong Ki was practically initiating a hug and she was too shy to respond to it. Aigoo, wasted opportunity!

The pressies that the fanclub had prepared were all put into the Santa's bag that SJK was holding up in the next picture. I had asked the girls what they had prepared, and was told the bag's full of munchies! They said they had bought 'keropok' (a kind of local crackers) and also 'tidbits that we used to eat as kids'.... Okie, that ain't telling me much at all!

I tried asking if they had a fansite whereby they would be putting up photos of the foodstuff that they had prepared. Errrr... the girls said they didn't take photos of the items, but had taken photos of the bag after putting everything.

Oh ^.^;

SJK also spent some time flipping through the book of fans' messages. He looked like he was genuinely interested to read what the fans had to say to him. Nice fan service there, I must say...

After the two girls, it was the boys' turn!

Yup, the four(!) boys of Ms CALLE TENG, the Director for Tony Moly Singapore, went on-stage to present a bouquet of flowers to SJK. He obviously likes kids! He took the flowers and immediately picked up the youngest boy and held him.

Hee, cute seeing how he was struggling with the bouquet and the boy!

One of my dear dongseungs 9OANNE was helping me to record the proceeding of the fansign, so here's Part 1 of the four parts that she's helped me take. This is Part 1 of the four-part fansign clips, and this one's a nice 8-minute clip where you can watch the interaction between Li Yi and SJK and also the fanclub and bouquet presentation.

credit: 9oanne @Seoul2359

Three seats were prepared. SJK sat down in the middle and initially, the gentleman, whom presumably is his manager, took the seat on SJK's left.

Subsequently, that gentleman moved to SJK's right and Mr BRIAN PAEK of TonyMoly Korea took the seat on SJK's left. Then the fansign started!

I think it's really nice how he would look at each fan as he or she approached him. The eye contact started even then! And yes, I was watching him rather closely throughout the fansign event and he did it for practically every fan. I suppose those few seconds of eye contact would be really really really precious to the fans!

If the fans had anything to say to him, he would stop everything he's doing and just concentrate on the fan. Quite often, we would see him throw back his head and laugh. Wonder what some of the fans had said that's so funny! And there're also some fans who would bring up stuff to show to him and he would look at the 'stuff' intently too! I love how he tried to make the super-brief interaction with every fan special.

Some of the fans got their handshake even though Li Yi had said there's to be no handshakes. But each time a fan extended her hand, he would oblige smilingly. Hey, this fan even high-fived him!

I think he's really cute! Like all these little gestures from him... from how he tousled his manager's hair at the beginning of the fansign, how he puffed up his cheeks whilst watching the fanclub representatives walk up on-stage, and how he laughed heartily when he's with fans.

Here's Part 2 of the fansign clips, and this one's all on the fansign proper.

credit: 9oanne @Seoul2359

After the fansign event, there was one more surprise item. What happened was SJK had seen the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) project when he was being ferried from the airport to his hotel on the night of his arrival on 18th Dec (Sat). He had asked about it, and was told that's MBS. He was also told about the SANDS SKYPARK and how beautiful it is and all that.

They were initially planning to bring him there on the 19th night (Sun). However, they had finished (chilli crab!!) dinner too late and it was about 11pm by the time they reached the Sands SkyPark. Too late, yes... since the SkyPark's operating hours were 10am to 10pm. So yup, he missed the opportunity to see the beautiful Singapore nightview from the Sands SkyPark.

credit: Sands SkyPark @MBS

But the very thoughtful Tony Moly Singapore team decided to prepare something special for him. They had arranged for someone to take a photo of the nightview from the Sands SkyPark and then superimpose SJK's picture on the SkyPark photo! It was obvious to see that SJK was very pleasantly surprised by the gesture. Nice one, TMS!

Later, Ms Calle Teng and her four boys went on-stage to have a group photo taken with SJK. Yes, there's one beautiful lady and FIVE(!) cute boys in this picture!

Check out how the littlest boy's shirt has flipped upwards, keke!

Here's Part 3 of the fansign clips, and this one's on the Sands SkyPark surprise gift and the group photo taking.

credit: 9oanne @Seoul2359

Here's Part 4 and also the final part of the fansign clips; it's an ultra-short one of SJK waving his goodbye.

credit: 9oanne @Seoul2359

Curious about SJK's signature? I 'caught' one of the lucky 100 fans to have gotten his autograph and snapped a photo for you guys to see, keke!

Before I end off this post, will just share some of KANDACE's shots from the fansign event.

till laterz!

p.s. I believe Tiffany is already back in SG from her holidays, so you should be hearing from her pretty soon. Meanwhile, merry christmas!

[Guest Blogger] Song Joong Ki for TM | Bugis Shop Visit

2010-12-23T04:21:00.001+08:00

This post has been posted by BB on SEOUL 23:59 simultaneously.

Just want to put up the gorgeous pictures that KANDACE took. I mad love them, no, no, I think I mad love this girl, keke!

This is what has come to be known as the 'CF photo'... Doesn't he look like he's filming a CF?

(For the uninitiated, CF is short for Commercial Film which is essentially what we call TV commercials (TVCs) over at our part of the world. CF is the Korean term, and in Japan, it's something else (again!)... In Japan, they refer to TVC as CM, which is short for Commercial Movie. So CF, CM, TVC... they all mean the same thing, got it?)

He looks like a cute little boy here, doesn't he? (Something random, I love that tiny swish of unruly hair jutting out, haha!)

You know, he's actually 178cm tall, but he's so lanky and his limbs are kindda long, so I had actually thought he's taller!

Actually he had two (rather angry!) zits when he touched down on Saturday night. I wonder if the zits are gone, or if it's just great makeup. Either way, TonyMoly can either sell me the magic anti-blemish product that he'd used to make the zits disappear, or they can sell me the concealer! He looks like he's got incredibly good, supple and nourished skin! Very fair too! I want, I want, I want to have skin like that!

One thing I've noticed after spending practically the whole day on SJK is how easily he laughs. I find that attractive in a person.

SJK has been doing lots and lots of signing during his trip to Singapore!

Still signing on the poster.

And now, he's signing on the standee.

Signing products now...

Omo, so cute! He's blowing the ink dry!

Another product!

Another angle.

Time to sign on the Morning Pack under the Latte Art range! Yes! Fresh off the oven, and just launched in Singapore on 20th Dec!

And of course, SJK had to sign on one of TonyMoly's bestselling products, the Tomatox Brightening Mask!

The photo-taking session for the 10 lucky winners for the couple shot opportunities was also arranged to take place at the Bugis Junction flagship store during SJK's shop visit at 3:30pm. Although Kandace has taken these lucky fans' photos as well, I think I'll not put them up to 'protect the innocent', keke! Suffice to say the lucky winners (all gals) look very very very happy. TonyMoly has advised that they will be putting up the couple photos on FACEBOOK in due course. So if you're one of the winners, do check back on their FB page.

Meanwhile, please check out KANDACE's BLOG for more marvellicious photos!

[Guest Blogger] Song Joong Ki for TM | Press Conference

2010-12-23T04:18:00.005+08:00

This post has been posted by BB on SEOUL 23:59 simultaneously.

ZZANG...!

Yes, I was invited to attend the Tony Moly Press Conference cum Product Launch held at Hotel Intercontinental on Monday afternoon. Arrived just minutes before the press conference was scheduled to start, good thing my dear dongseung KANDACE was early and saved me a seat, so we both were seated at the second row.

Other than introducing Song Joong Ki as the brand's current and latest spokesperson, the press conference was also to launch the LATTE ART range of two products and the FLORIA range of six products. More about those later (and yes, I did say I'll be doing product reviews for the Latte Art range)

I was going to do a report of the presscon, but seems like there is no need to since RazorTV has put up the clips of all the key parts. Of course there's some editing on their part, so the sequence is not quite the same as what actually happened on Monday, but ah, that's just details.

Lazy guys listen up! (Song Joong Ki Pt 1) |02:40
Song Joong Ki, the new face of Tony Moly, was in Singapore for the opening of their flagship store in Bugis. Check out the press conference where he talks about his first trip to Singapore and his plans for the future.

Cute or seductive? (Song Joong Ki Pt 2) | 01:11
The new face of Tony Moly reveals what he wants his image to be and how he feels about being the brand ambassador at the press conference for the opening of the Tony Moly flagship store at Bugis.

Flawless skin like his (Song Joong Ki Pt 3) | 01:33
Want to have skin like pretty boy Song Joong Ki? He shares his skincare regime and tells us which Tony Moly product he would give his girlfriend.

The new Coffee Prince? (Song Joong Ki Pt 4) | 01:29
Song Joong Ki tries his hand at coffee art on a real cup of coffe, as part of the launch for the new Tony Moly Latte Art product line.

There, you have it, all the SJK bits. RazorTV has edited out mostly the brand and product-related parts, so I'll just share those and also some other little tidbits with you briefly here.

The press conference started on time at 12:30pm (see his arrival clip LI YI was the host for the press conference and I must say I like her style more than the more casual (and even 'slapstick-humourous') style. She was totally appropriate and composed throughout.

Just before his entry into the hall, the latest CF for the Floria range was played.

credit: TonyMolySingapore @YT

(You can click HERE to watch the BTS for the CF above)

The Floria skincare range consists of patented essential ingredients and stem cell substance and promise to deliver fast and optimal skin improvements. The six products launched currently include the Floria Hydra Energy Toner, Floria Hydra Energy Emulsion, Floria Youth Energy Capsule Essence, Floria Youth Energy Cream, Floria Youth Energy Eye Cream and Floria Moisture Energy-Skin Emulsion. This skincare range is targeting mainly at people in their 20s to 30s.

The panel of representatives were (from left to right) Mr BRIAN PAEK (TonyMoly Korea), Mr SONG JOONG KI (SJK) and Ms CALLE TENG (TonyMoly Singapore). Mr Paek also assisted to translate for SJK; incidentally, Li Yi is fluent in Korean as well.

Li Yi commented that there are many TonyMoly fans in Korea and all over the region, and proceeded to ask Mr Brian Paek to share how well the brand is doing in Korea.

Mr Paek said that TonyMoly is good at creative design, and at formulating a diverse range of skincare products suitable from the young to the old. Despite having many competitors in Korea, the brand has its own uniqueness and will continue to do well.

When asked about TonyMoly's expansion plans for the Singapore market, Ms Calle Teng revealed that they plan to open at least 12 stores in three years. In fact, after Marina Square and Bugis Junction, they will be opening their third store at Raffles Exchange as soon as next month!

Now we were just talking about TonyMoly's strength at creative design, right? Once again, they have demonstrated their creativity with the way they launched the latest Latte Art range of two products. Check out how keenly interested everyone was!

What happened during the press conference was that when it was time to unveil the Latte Art range, the hotel staff walked in with a large(!) cup of latte, and... SJK was supposed to do latte art on the spot. He seemed rather surprised during the event and I wondered if they didn't prewarn him about it, keke!

The big cup is real latte and SJK had created the TM latte art that you can see from the picture. The smaller item beside the real latte is one of the two newly-launched products from the Latte Art Range. Cute, right?!

SJK took a sip from the cup after he had completed his handiwork and proclaimed that it's real latte. Uber cute!

The enterprising and quick-thinking Ms Teng quickly asked SKJ to sign on the TM cup! I suppose that cup would either be on exhibit at one of the TonyMoly stores, or might be used as a giveaway or auction item...?

The packaging of the products are just adorable!! They look like they're drinkable! The 'spoon' that you see sticking up from the 'cup' is actually the spatula! So cute, so cute! More reviews later.

This is the Morning Pack under the Latte Art range.

And here, the Cappuccino Cream in Scrub under the Latte Art range.

I didn't take many photos during the press conference, since I was planning to use Kandace's sure-to-be-fantabulous pictures, and yes, she did not disappoint. But let me put up the rare few that I took so that you can enjoy and appreciate Kandace's pictures a million fold, keke!

A picture of SJK with the very beautiful Ms Calle Teng.

Next up, two pictures of SJK.

Here, the press conference through KANDACE's eyes.

The ballroom, all set up and waiting for the arrival of the invited guests and the star.

The life-sized standee that greeted the guests before the real McCoy arrived.

The composed host, Li Yi.

Ms Calle Teng with SJK.

The panelists.

He looked so adorable! Don't you just want to pinch his cheeks? So 'plump'!!

Oh, SJK the perfect spokesperson... holding the newly launched Latte Art range.

Another shot.

And, there're lots more 'treasure' where these come from! Click HERE to check out the rest of Kandace's photos.

Impressions of the Dreamers [Part 2/2]

2010-12-22T17:23:00.009+08:00

Read PART 1 of the JYP shortlisted candidates' interviews and can't wait for part 2? Sorry this is a tad late in coming, but I was waiting for the interview notes to be completed, and also waiting for some info confirmation from those shortlisted.

SHAUN CHUNG (19)

Pursuing his Diploma in Hospitality & Tourism Management at the the Temasek Polytechnic, Shaun is also a Kpop enthusiast. When asked about the motivating factor that pushed him to go for the audition, Shaun said, "I just wanted to try it out, to give it a shot." He added that he has always been the one chasing idols, so why not be one himself?

We were curious if he had always harboured the dream of becoming a star, so we posed him that question. Well, when he was young, he wanted to be an actor, but it changed gradually when he was in primary school as he started to like Taiwanese pop, and then eventually, he has moved on to Kpop.

Even though Super Junior is not his favourite group, Shaun looks up to Leeteuk and sees him as a role model. He said Leeteuk works very hard, and he has trained for a very long time. A good and effective leader, Leetuek is also very thoughtful. Shaun shares that he really wants to learn his qualities.

Of course, that's practically begging us to ask the question if he's actually eying the leader position should he be selected to form a group. Shaun said no, not really. He feels that being a leader has its burden and it can be tiring since there will be a lot of responsibilities involved.

Shaun revealed that he was actually quite nervous during the audition. He was sitting at the side waiting for his turn as his group watched the previous batch before them carry out their auditions. The experience was nerve-wrecking and it was the first time he had had to audition in this sort of environment.

His audition item was SNSD’s Into The New World. He had wanted to perform a ballad from FT Island or F.Cuz initially, but when told that there's no background music, he then decided to switch to a fast number. Since he is very familiar with SNSD's songs, he decided to just pick Into The New World as he knows the lyrics by heart.

Surprisingly, that audition was the first time he sang to an audience; yes, even his family and friends have never heard him sing. That audition boosted his confidence and he now wants to learn more about singing and wants to gain more confidence as well. When asked of what he wishes to learn or improve in, Shaun shared that he can't dance at all, and hence hopes to become better at dancing.

Shaun's parting words to me were, "I'm thankful that I got shortlisted, I didn't expect this in the morning, and life is really unexpected. So hopefully more unexpected things will come up for me.”

CELYN LIEW (20)

The sweet-looking and bubbly girl has just graduated from Temasek Polytechnic (Leisure and Resort Management) in April. Instead of going to university like most of her peers, the 20-year-old decided to take some time out to plan for my future route. Her own words were, "I want to put some serious thought into where should I go from here. I know ultimately I won't see myself settling down in an office job. It's up there on the stage that I wanna be, doing what I love most."

So whilst she is now working with the Singapore Tourism Board, her heart really beats for her dream. She has even decided that she's gonna fly to Korea next year no matter what, be it to train, or to study the language.

Why the affinity and strong draw to Korea, you might wonder... Well, Celyn has really strong reasons to feel so attached to Korea. After all, her mother is Korean-Taiwanese. And nope, Celyn is not yet fluent in Korean since the family has been living in SIngapore and they have been conversing in English and Chinese since she was young. But she has been learning Korean for half a year now and she says she's able to have a simple conversation with Koreans in Korean. Her aim is to be able to watch a Korean movie without subtitles by next year, keke!

For her audition item, Celyn had sung 2NE1's IT HURTS. In terms of singing and dancing, Celyn loves to sing and also counts dancing as her secondary passion after singing.

For singing, she had taken lessons at Focus Music previously, and her coach was actually Roy Li Fei Hui (singer/composer and former Project Superstar judge.) Celyn loves singing so much that she would stay up till 4-5am after work just so that she can keep practising her singing. She said yes, it's tiring, but at the same time, it's also fulfilling cos she's doing something she has loved for a long time in her life.

As for dancing, she has been learning since young. About three years back, she started taking up formal dance lessons again, this time at Oschool. She is now totally in love with Waacking, Reggae as well as G-Style. And yes, she loves Kpop and the Kpop dances too! Soon, you will probably see her do a Kpop dance cover!

She took part in a dance competition (Taiwanese star Jolin Tsai's 美人计创意舞蹈大赛) this September and flew over to Taiwan for the finals. Although she did not win, she did make it all the way to the Top 35. Here's the clip^^

When asked if she has a role model whom she looks up to, she mentioned Jo Kwon because he had started at such a young age, and at an age when everyone was still playing around. He finally made his debut some seven years later.

Celyn is more than prepared to just drop everything here and fly to Korea without any hesitation so long as the chance's given to her. She is just waiting for her big break, and she's all ready to go.

What were her parting words to me? "I am not afraid of hard work, tough times, failure or sacrifice. In fact, I am more than willing to go through whatever it takes, because I just can't describe how much I wanna get there, it's been my dream since I was a child. My mind and heart might just be that very thing that sets me apart."

HAFIDZ OMAR (23)

Ahhh... our first model in the lineup of nine!! You can check out his portfolio HERE.

Hafidz is currently in his final year of pursuing a banking and finance degree at Nanyang Technological University. Recently, he was on an exchange in Bangkok, where he did a six-month stint at Thammasat University. Whilst in Thailand, not only did he pick up the language, he also developed a passion for modelling. He did a few photoshoots and even a TV commercial there. (And psst! Will let you in on a not-so-little 'secret', Hafidz was actually nominated as one of 2009 Female magazine's 50 Gorgeous People!)

Hafidz ia someone with those exotic looks and his features are really strong and distinguished. I suppose many of us would be curious about his ethnicity and no, even though he jokes about it, there ain't no Thai blood in Hafidz aka Nickhun-wannabe, keke! Seriously, his dad is Indian/Malay and his mom is Malay with Chinese lineage. Ah, the total Singaporean package, if I may say so!

He had auditioned on the third and final day, 11th Dec... with a heavy and not-so-optimistic heart too! You see, he had read the news about the earlier auditions and he was uncertain about how the people from JYPE would take to his looks. After all, most Koreans are less familiar with the Southeast Asian ethnic groups.

Hafidz enjoys Kpop, and counts FT Island, 2AM, 2PM, 2NE1... (yes, the list does go on) as amongst his favourities. He mentioned generic Kpop a few times, and I'll take that to mean he's not a diehard fan of any particular Kpop artist or group. But that said, he did reveal that he does pay a bit more attention to 2PM as their songs are really catchy and their dance moves really sleek. (Hey, Hafidz can even hum a few lines from 2PM's songs!)

When asked about whether he has always aspired to be a star, he said, “Not really. Everything’s a learning journey, I’m sure along the way if I can be a star, I will definitely go all the way out for it. But I would say I'm talent-less, for I can neither sing nor dance." But Hafidz wants to learn dancing, and he thinks he can definitely be good at hosting since he is quite outgoing.

"And (I"m) shameless." he added laughingly (and I found his sense of humour tickling my funny bone, keke!)

Well, Hafidz is all ready to pack up and go if offered the contract. In his own words, "Why waste time when this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, right? In fact, if I am not well-received in Korea, this might open up many opportunities to model in other parts of the world. If all that fails, there's always my degree to fall back on."

I also asked him what unique qualities he possesses to set him apart from the rest, he said, "My determination and persistence. I will go all the way to achieve my goals, even it seems impossible to begin with. And to be superficial, I feel that my smile is special. It helps me to get what I want sometimes." *winks* (ah, that sense of humour again!)

Leo Narendra Putra (25)

Okay, this one left a rather deep impression on me... Why? Coz he's the one who had flown in from Indonesia for the audition. Of course, you can say Indonesia ain't all that far.... But hey, there are aspiring singers/dancers/models right here in Singapore who don't even have the guts or will or whatever it is that makes the difference between success and failure to go to an audition even if it's just a train ride away.

Leo appeared to be initially shy about his age. Yea, only 25 years old and he's shy that he's the oldest... But I personally believe that no one's too old to dream. So yea, Leo's subsequently prepared and ready to shout out loud that he's (only!) 25.

Currently working in Jakarta as an architect/drafter, Leo has always loved singing. But sometimes, commitments and even 'kind advice' from the people around you become obstacles to your dream. But I think it's a wonderful thing that Leo has decided to step up, stand out and be counted. He had auditioned at the last audition on 11th Dec and he had sung CONFESSION OF A FRIEND aka 친구의 고백 by 2AM.

From his choice of audition song, it is hardly surprising that Leo is more into ballads. But i was a wee bit surprised when he named LIM CHANG JUNG as his favourite singer (okie, I'll confess, I had to look that up >.<) And oh, also likes Yoona for her talent and IU too.

I asked Leo this question, "If offered the contract, would you just pack up and go without hesitation?"

Here's his reply, "Well, I packed up and flew out to Singapore just for the audition right? Haha, so yes, this is a 100% yes, without a second thought. This is an opportunity. As much as I am conscious of my age and people around me make sure that I am very much aware of it, I know my dreams. One can call me stubborn, I guess. I know my dreams, and I'll do what I can to achieve it. So yes, this is an opportunity where I will FINALLY get professional training in something I've always wanted to do, and I will surely not let it go to waste."

His parting words during the interview session two Saturdays ago were these, "I would like to be a good entertainer. Not only that, my greatest goal is to be a great role model; I want to do more than just that, and taking a step further."

And now that's a wrap!

It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience covering this for TIFFANY. Like I'd said in Part 1, it's important to never lose that ability to dream. So now, dream away, dream away!

p.s. would like to thank LYDIA from (X)CLUSIVE for her kind assistance so that I was able to complete this entry.

Fansign - Song Joong Ki for Tony Moly

2010-12-21T02:22:00.005+08:00

annyong! tiffany may be away, but her heart sure is with her readers. despite not being able to cover the event personally, she has still enlisted the help of a friend KELLY CHENG to help her take pics for the SONG JOONG KI (SJK) for TONYMOLY fansign event that took place at bugis junction this afternoon.

SJK's schedule was pretty tight today. his day started with a store visit at MARINA SQUARE at 10am.

pic credit: TonyMoly SG

and then continued on with the press conference at 12:30pm. the press conference was actually to launch TonyMoly's latest LATTE ART RANGE and also the FLORIA skincare range.

pic credit: TonyMoly SG

yours truly will be blogging about the press conference and fansign in detail over at SEOUL 23:59 (and probably reposting here as well, keke!), so for now, let's just put up the pics that our dear kelly has taken this afternoon.

the venue

whilst the fans were queuing under the hot sun, SJK was doing his second store visit for the day at the flagship store at BUGIS JUNCTION.

the stage setup

a closer look at the products that were just launched in singapore today.

a look at the crowd this afternoon... aigoo, it was scorching hot when the fans were waiting and staking out at the best possible spots, but the moment the fansign event started at 4pm, the skies started to turn cloudy. but hey, even the heavens like the cute flower boy SJK, the rain held till the entire fansign event was over and done with!

he's here, he's here, he's here! the emcee for the fansign event (and also the press conference for that matter) was LI YI who's not only bilingual in both english and mandarin, but also fluent in korean!

yup, he's here, he's here, he's here!

wanna know how SJK looks in person? well, he's tall, lean and really really really cute! he's got baby face and his skin (sans the little zit on his chin, keke) looks sooooo... baby-soft and plump! and omg, he's fair too!

the flower boy with quite many expressions! and yes, all uber-cute!

there were a few 'admin things' to settle before fansign... first up, inviting the singapore fanclub to present SJK with the gifts that they'd specially prepared!

hee, guess it's christmas season, so the fans (and they call themselves KiDs, so adorable!) prepared a santa bag of goodies for him. unfortunately, the contents were not revealed on-stage. but i did ask the gals, and they told me the bag consisted of munchies like 'keropok' and other tidbits that we would eat as kids...

i asked them if they'd taken a pic of the items before putting into the santa's bag, errrr... they didnt. they only took a pic of the bag after putting the stuff in. oh well, use your own imagination, okie?

gotta say SJK is really really nice. when the two fanclub reps went onstage to present him with the gift and the message book, he sorta initiated 'skinship'...! he'd reached out to try and embrace the girl standing closest to him, but i think she was too shy and just hid, keke! terrific fan service, i've gotta say!

he was flipping through the fans' message book long after the two fanclub reps had left the stage...

wondering what he saw that caused that expression....

yup, still flipping, keke!

yup, still flipping!

next item... four cute kiddo-reps from TonyMoly Singapore to present SJK with a bouquet!!

i heard that he really likes kids and when the four boys were on-stage, SJK was quick to pick up one of them to carry in his arms. and oh, these boys are the precious boys of CALLE TENG, the director for TonyMoly Singapore... i can only lament and say it's incredible, totally incredible that a woman who looks as good as she does is a mother of four!!

hee, SJK struggling alittle with the boy AND the bouquet!

another take of the five cute boys on-stage, wakakakak!

and then, the fansign event started. here, SJK seen taking a sip of water before starting.

you know, his fan service's really fantabulous.

throughout the fansign, i didn't see him flustered or impatient at all. he would take his time with each and every fan, giving them a special moment with him. he would stop everything to look them in the eyes if they had something to say to him. and he would check and confirm intently as he tried to write the fans' names during the autograph session.

haiyo, so adorable, right?

that skin...!!

that smile...!!

hee, think tiff will chide me for turning into some sort of gushing fangirl...? but jinjja! the fan service!!

see how intently and seriously he's signing?

the eye contact... priceless!

he really has a nice, infectious smile. he looks so happy (like a child!) when he smiles, so much so that you can't help but wanna smile along with him...

aigoo, even pursing his lips is cute!

do i actually know another adjective other than 'cute'...? *sweating bullets*

oh, i like the childlike expression in this one!

hey, just noticed that he's got a nice, pronounced adam's apple! me likes!

oh, that melting smile again!

see how he's checking the fan's name?

the only male fan out of the 100 fans drawn for the fansign today^^

i love how he would hand the autograph to the fans with both hands and a smile... each time, every time!

zit or no zit, still cute!

towards the end of the event, ms teng went on-stage with her sons again for a group pic with SJK. see what i mean what i said it's unbelievable she's a mother of four...???

one last one... SJK saying his goodbye before leaving the stage.

okie, this is just the sneaks, and i've also posted some official media pics from Tony Moly Singapore HERE, go check it out.

and yea, more juicies will be shared both on SEOUL 23:59 and here on kimchiland soon!

What is Korea to you?

2010-12-19T04:26:00.002+08:00

Many of you would have noticed my absence for the last 2 weeks. If you followed me on my twitter, you would have known I was in Kimchiland a week ago, with much thanks to KTO. This week has been a mad dash of catching up with work and editing my over 900 photos plus the numerious video clips. In fact, I'm still editing...which explains why I'm posting at this unearthly hour.

Thankfully, bb and Kandace have done a wonderful job of updating here whilst I was away. Thanks bb and Kandace. ^^

bb has just updated on the arrival Song Jong Ki...and I'll let you on a little secret..there will be some exclusive, close-up photos of this up-and-coming young man.

I will be off to the land of the Penang Kway Teow the whole of next week....though I'm not actually going to be in Penang. But this will really, really be a holiday trip and I'm looking forward to it greatly.

Not to worry, there will be postings and updates on Song Jong Ki's visit and when I'm back, I will be writing more about Kimchiland. ^^

In the meantime, I was just wondering...I'm sure many of you have been to Korea or would very much like to go to Korea. But I'm curious, what comes to mind when you think of Korea? K-Pop? Cosmetics? Kimchi? Hanbok? Skiing?

Korea is full of surprising contradiction...it can be very traditional and it can be very modern. But that's why it's so fun to be there. ^^

Before I go to zzzland, you would have noticed that bb is posting from a new site- SEOUL 23:59. Mark this site coz there will be more things happening in the future. And whilst I'm at it..Tiffany in Kimchiland will also undergo changes and hope to greet everyone in the coming new year with a brand new site.

In the meantime, for those going to Song Jong Ki's events, enjoy!

[Guest Blogger] Song Joong Ki in SG!

2010-12-19T02:46:00.012+08:00

This post has been posted by BB on SEOUL 23:59 simultaneously.

Yes, am sure the Kpop fans amongst you would know that the uber-cute actor fronting the TONYMOLY brand, SONG JOONG KI, has arrived in singapore tonight.

He had landed at our Changi Airport Terminal 3 via SQ609 at at around 10pm tonight. My dear dongseung KANDACE was there to cover his arrival with her trusty camera though. Here's a teaser pic of what she's seen of him through her viewfinder tonight, and I'll give a shout-out once she's ready to share pics.

Meanwhile, here's what she has to say about his arrival tonight,

There was quite a good turnout (at the airport) just now.
He was very nice.
Took off his sunglasses and said 'Hi' to fans and smiled a lot.
Didn't really rush through the waiting crowd too much,
so that was good.

However, seems like some fans weren't happy that the media, security and staff were crowding around him too much as he walked his way out from the arrival hall to the waiting vehicle parked outside. They've given their feedback on FAITH & D ENTERTAINMENT's FB PAGE and you go read the comments yourself, ya?

What I've observed about Faith & D Entertainment and also TONYMOLY SINGAPORE (TM) is that they seem to really listen to what fans and customers have to say, and they've been communicative and responsive. In fact, there're even a couple of occasions when I actually thought TM was nice to share THAT much with fans and customers, keke!

Anyway, Faith & D Entertainment have responded to the fans' feedback that they'll look into things for the coming events on Monday, and will make sure that they try their utmost to ensure that fans get unobstructed view of Song Joong Ki. Nice of them, ya?

One of my friends has flown in from Thailand specially to see Song Joong Ki. And get this, she doesn't even have a pass to the fansign event on Monday and yet she's taken the trouble and spent the money to fly in just so that she can catch a glimpse of him! WHOA... talk about love for an idol!

And she got lucky, it seems...

She had arrived today, and was waiting for him inside the terminal before clearing immigration. So yea, she managed to see him really up-close. Since he's really friendly and all, he even signed for her and her friend and yea, they spoke with him and shook hands too. She's tweeted that they had managed to get pic and fancam as well!

BLOOMLION tweeted,

Song joong ki thank u for your signature, and the loveliest smile.
Oh that very soft hands too!

here, pics of Song Joong Ki and his autograph,

There're quite many fancams too! I'll just repost some of them for you.

[2010.12.18] Song Joong Ki @Changi Airport | Part 1

credit: violettacal @YT

[2010.12.18] Song Joong Ki @Changi Airport | Part 2

credit: violettacal @YT

credit: mabaydar007 @YT

mabaydar007:
The Arrival video of Song Joong Ki (who acted as the rich boy Gu Yong Ha in SungKyunKwan Scandal) taken at Singapore Airport, Terminal 3.

Due to (many) media people blocking his way and the path being too narrow, he moved slowly. He stood very near me and I could even grab him without straightening my hand too much. But I didn't do it. Didn't wanna disturb him. He has such a baby face. Can't believe he is same age as me.

Next time they should allow only one or two media people to come in. It will be less trouble.

There, a short account of his arrival tonight, brought to your by Seoul 23:59. We'll be covering his events on Monday too, so do check out soon, ya?

Impressions of the Dreamers [Part 1/2]

2010-12-16T23:38:00.023+08:00

Annyong, this is still BB!

Bored of me already...? That's just too bad, coz it's still gonna be me doing at least two more posts for you here on Tiffany's blog, keke!

You see, while Tiff was away, not only did I cover the JYPE & ALPHA AUDITION for her on 9th dec, I also covered a photo cum interview session for her on 11th dec, so I'll be doing a two-part entry to get you all personal and intimate with nine of the two dozen candidates shortlisted.

Would love to cover all of them, but unfortunately there just wasn't enough time. Oh well, that's a perpetual problem (of time not ever being enough), no matter the situation, ya?

Before I start, I wanna take the chance to introduce you to KANDACE! Barely even 20 years old, she's already one awesome (and i mean really really really awesome!) photographer. Even if I had long harbored a secret wish to owning (and yes, actually using) a DSLR, seeing her work just makes me wanna crawl into some hole and hibernate or something. She's so good she makes me think that we should all just stick to our knitting, and yea, let people do what they do best. And lord knows I can't count, I can't sing and I can't take good pics to save my life. So, maybe I'll just stick to standing in for Tiffany when she's travelling or something.... Aigoo, what a sad, sad life yours truly have!

Anyway, back to KANDACE.

I've worked with her on KPOP NIGHT CONCERT and then she had also covered KIM HYUN JOONG's FANSIGN EVENT for me. Aigoo, those pics are really really really to die for! So a'hem! If you ever need a photographer with spunk, brains and manners, just ask for KANDACE...

And nope, Kandace didn't ask me to do any promotion for her at all... It's just that I find her sooooo... good that I just gotta share it (or izzit share 'her'? keke!) with everyone! If she ever becomes some famous and/or award-winning photographer, then I can claim some credit for having seen her potential early, hee... (and yup, kandace had helped me take the nice-nice pics in this blog entry, so thanks!)

I love keeping myself amidst young people. Coz young people seem so fearless and they so dare to dream. I love feeling alive and spirited and I love even more the feeling that I can do anything, so long as I want it badly enough. Sadly, what happens in real life is as you become more and more of an adult, you become less and less of a dreamer and believer. And then, somewhere along the line, you lose the spark and you become... mediocre. (So hor, the conclusion is... don't ever grow up!)

As I was watching those nine shortlisted candidates last Saturday, they were so vibrant, so alive... and they were so full of hope. I love that sparkle in some of their eyes as I spoke with them, I love that gungho attitude displayed by one of them who had just packed up and flown in from Indonesia for the audition, I love that they're willing to give it their best shot if really offered a contract.

And here, the nine shortlisted candidates that LYDIA of (X)CLUSIVE and I spoke with last Saturday night at the Asian Market Cafe at Fairmont Hotel.

(Back L-R) Shaun, Hafiz, Leo, Fraser, Alfred
(Front L-R) Natasha, Celyn, Jayley, Angie

When the nine of them sauntered into the restaurant where we're waiting, it was after a rather long day of photo shoot for them. I checked the time, it was practically 10pm already and the kids had not had dinner. Though I knew we're sorta pressed for time, I felt sorry for them and thought perhaps we could let them eat one round before the interviews started.

Watching them eat and banter with one another, I remember wondering if it crossed any of their minds that they're actually competitors in this whole audition game. I guess the thought might not have struck them as yet, since I'd hazard a guess that they were all on cloud nine... I mean, they had just had their audition and been told that they've been shortlisted... And then the next thing they knew, they were told to 'dress pleasantly' and show up for a photoshoot and do some interview. Sounds like a star already, if you ask me, keke!

Next up, my impressions of those nine dreamers!

ANGIE LIU (21)

A tanned girl with long jet-black hair, big eyes and pout-worthy lips, one look at Angie brings to my mind an image of Angelina Jolie. However, Angie has a demeanor that belies her sunny physical appearance. she's actually rather shy and soft-spoken when I spoke with her.

Citing names like BoA and Jolie Tsai as amongst her favourite artists, so I was not surprised at all that her interest's in dancing. For her audition, she had sung and danced to Jolin's 特务J.

This Nanyang Polytechnic student (major in Digital Animation) is all set and ready to move to Korea if she's lucky enough to be offered a contract by JYP Entertainment.

Angie has been taking dancing and singing lessons, although Kpop is something that she's picked up only recently. However, she now counts Kpop dance as one of her strongest dance genres.

No stranger to competitions, Angie has won championship title at dance competitions in school. She loves to dance and once on-stage, she will let everything go, be emboldened and give her body entirely to the music.

And yes, she hopes to be Singapore's answer to BoA from Korea and Jolin who hails from Taiwan. However, Angie does realize the importance of versatility in an artist and knows that she cannot just rely on her dance to make it big. The quality of her voice, of her singing, too, are important. Therefore this young lady hopes to brush up on her singing and be able to emote herself better through songs, especially ballads.

Going by this clip, I'll have to agree that she is a totally different person when dancing on-stage. Good on you, Angie! Other than the following clip, you can see more of Angie's dancing HERE and HERE.

And oh, in case you're wondering, the first person she called when she got the good news that she's shortlisted...? Her mom.

ALFRED SNG (19)

Just like Angie, Alfred is also from Nanyang Polytechnic. And what would you know? He's also doing Digital Animation...! Currently in his second year, Alfred has another one and a half years to go before graduation.

Alfred professes that he's not chasing after the dream of becoming someworld-famous star. Instead, he just loves arts and music in general, and would be happy doing anything relating to arts and music. And oh, Alfred plays a little harmonica and the piano as well.

He had turned up for his audition on the 11th, yes, Saturday itself, which was also the last day of audition rounds. Even though he arrived at the relatively early hour of 8am, he was given a 300-something number tag and had to wait till 12nn before it was his turn.

I thought it was strange, or perhaps surprising's a better word, that a young man like Alfred would have chosen the song Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You as his audition song. (then again, I guess I really shouldn't complain, at least he wasn't singing Mariah Carey's Hero like half of the auditioning population, keke!)

Ironically, Alfred didn't used to have a favourable impression of Kpop, no thanks to a 2AM-and-camera episode with his sister, he did eventually come around. And... he likes Jokwon (yes, from 2AM) and also Amber from f(x).

Alfred has been dancing for about a year now, and is keen to work on improving his vocals through proper and professional training, if given the chance. When asked about what's one unique thing or personality trait about himself, he looked me into the eyes and said, "Perseverance. When it's something you really want, you will go all the way for it."

So Alfred, I guess the six million dollar question now is, "Do you really want this?"

JAYLEY WOO (19)

Actually I already knew JAYLEY was shortlisted as I'd seen hers and her twin sister's audition on 9th Dec and knew that they were called for the camera test. Yes, Jayley's the younger of a pair of twin sisters, and her older twin, HAYLEY went for the audition and was shortlisted as well. You can read all about it in HAYLEY's BLOG ENTRY.

Older twin Hayley was still stuck at the photo session at MBS last saturday night, so I only had the chance to speak with younger twin Jayley. Jayley was pursuing her Tourism and Hospitality studies at Kaplan previously and although this pretty (and very fair-skinned) young lady has not undergone any professional singing or performing training, she does know she wants to try and make a career out of this.

When I asked about her dreams, she shared that she loves singing, loves going places and... doesn't everyone just want to be a star? So yes, that's why she's there, to pursue her dream of becoming a star.

She said she became interested in Kpop sometime in 2008 and although she (and her sister) had tried out for Campus Superstar previously, they didn't make it too far. Seems like her more introverted and shy sister had a bad case of nerves and broke down in tears during her turn on-stage. It's not easy to hold your own in front of a massive crowd, I guess.... (Campus Superstar tryout was held at Ang Mo Kio Hub in full and plain view of everyone who happened to be there)

But in terms of actual audition, Jayley said it's her first. There's something rather 'cute' (I would prefer to use 'incredible' actually, keke!) about her audition process. She had prepared and was planning to sing 写一首歌 by 顺子... but for some reason, when it was her turn, what came out from her mouth was 记得 by 张惠妹!

Despite her flawless skin, Hayley claimed that she does not have any special regime or grooming secrets. But she added that maybe it does help that she happens to not like fried food.

Towards the end of our little chat, I asked her to name one unique trait or characteristic about her that stands her apart from everyone else. Gotta say her answer surprised me... (sorry!) not in a good way.

She'd said, "My hair colour, and the way I look."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. First of all, hair colour cannot be special and unique. i repeat, CANNOT... and that's for the very simple reason that we can all dye our hair to whatever shade our hearts desire. And the second part of her answer...? Well, the rest of us may be able to say that and get away with it... but did Jayley forget that she actually has an identical twin?

I'll be honest, I had half written her off as perhaps someone who's more 'form than substance'. But I've since changed my mind and decided that perhaps there's more to this gal than meets the eye. I've read a few of her blog entries and realised that she may not be as 'airy' as she portrays herself to be.

Reading JAYLEY's REPLY to someone who had asked her why she wanted to be an idol on Formspring, I'm more than happy to reserve my comments and observe this pretty young lady awhile longer. For a start, you might wanna read THIS.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with a clip of the twin sisters doing a cover for 2NE1's I Don't Care (one of my faves incidentally!)

FRASER TIONG (16)

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I was curious about this young man's surname and asked about it. He told me it;s 张.

And ahhh... he's Hakka.

And I was even more curious about how he sees his own future when he revealed that he's all of the tender age of 16. When I heard that he's only 16, I said, "Please relax, don't be nervous and just chat with me."

He'd returned with a "I'm not nervous."

Okay, mianeyo, for assuming that all young kids are scary cats and timid peeps ^o^

Although some of the other shortlisted candidates too have some performing or stage experience, none of them came close to what Fraser has under his belt. You see, he's been a child actor with MediaCorp for some ten years now. I guess that explains his steadiness and maturity.

Some of you must be trying to figure out which dramas you've seen him in, ya?

His face must look familiar to at least some of you because he had played the younger version of Li Nanxing's (李南星) character, Jinlong (金龙) in the drama The Golden Path (黄金路)

He reasoned that he may not have been the best in terms of talents, but what really helped him was how much calmer he was as compared to the rest. He was less nervous and therefore was able to perform more naturally and better. For his audition item, he had chosen not to act. Instead, he had sung Hey Soul Sister by the American alternative rock band Train.

Fraser also shared that Kpop is something that's a rather recent hobby to him as he only started listening to and liking Kpop from this year. Now, he counts Taeyang (of Big Bang) as one of his favourite performers.

Fraser feels that he's ready and that he definitely wants to give the audition opportunity his best shot. However, he shared with me his concern that his chances may be adversely affected given that he still has not fulfilled his military obligations.

He also shared that he hopes one day and one day soon, there'll be a Singaporean name in the Kpop scene, and hopefully he will be the one to bring us the national pride of having been able to break into the notoriously difficult Korean show business.

One of Fraser's parting musings to me were, "Sometimes I wonder... in this big, big sea full of people, am I talented enough? Can I really make it, and make it big?"

Good luck, Fraser! If you think you can, it's already half the battle won.

NATASHA LOW (17)

Ever heard of Sunny Low? Or Sunny Low Dance Studio? I believe many of you might have... After all, Sunny Low Dance Studio has a history dating all the way back to the 1960s, when Sunny Low was giving dance lessons in his father's studio, the Poh San Dance Studio. In fact, they can now proudly say they're four generations of dancing Low Families. You can read more about the Low dancers HERE.

Yes, this (Natasha) Low is of the renowned dancing Low family; in fact, Sunny Low is Natasha's grandpa.

From her mannerism to her wardrobe, it is obvious that Natasha's from a rather privileged family background. She has just completed her GCE O levels and is contemplating enrolling for her dance degree at LaSalle.

I guess things are now on the balance since she has been shortlisted for the JYPE & Alpha Auditions. She had turned up for audition on 9th Dec and strangely, instead of choosing to dance, she had sung instead.

And oh, yes, she does dance.

When asked of her forte, she had revealed that she does mostly ballroom dancing and hip-hop. A rather intriguing and interesting mix, if you ask me. Perhaps it's her family background and her love for the more traditional ballroom dancing and ALSO the comparatively freer-style of the hip-hop dance genre that give this young lady her unique aura.

Yes, I did feel it... that there's something different about the vibes that this girl emits.

And oh, it would appear that she'd inherited the good dancing genes if her recent achievement of having made it to the Top 10 of the recent Kpop Dance Battle is anything to go by. Unfortunately, I haven't yet found a clip yet, so please feel free to holler if you've a link of a dancing Natasha, okie?

But Natasha shared that she thinks that her singing's stronger than her dancing though. She listens to more Mandarin pop than Kpop, and her favourite artists include A-Mei and Rainie Yang.

When asked about the one thing that might be able to make her more distinguished amongst the rest, Natasha shared that her low(er than expected) tone always surprises people. Yea, with her sweet looks, many would expect her voice to be light and sultry-sweet, but nope, hers is a very addictive lower tone that's almost sensuous.

She's been wanting to be a star since four to five years ago and yes, she's willing to keep trying to make sure she gets there, where she will sparkle with the other stars.

(to be continued)

Snapshot from the JYPE & Alpha Audition, SG

2010-12-12T05:01:00.005+08:00

ZZANG! it's me, BB!

nope, you've not gone to the wrong blog, this IS tiffany's kimchiland blog, just that tiffany's gone off to see some snow (hopefully) and therefore, i'm standing in for her... yet again^^

now while tiffany is away, something major is happening in many people's lives here in singapore. why do i say that? coz the good peeps from JYP entertainment are in town and that mighty exciting audition was happening right in our little dot of an island! yea, am talking about the 2010 JYPE & ALPHA ASEAN REGION AUDITION that took place over three days on 8th (wed), 9th (thu) and 11th (sat) dec.

since tiff's the official blogger for this audition event, i had the privilege of access into the audition room. made my way to the senja-cashew community club (aigoo, so far!!) on the second day of the audition (9th dec, thu) and spent practically the entire afternoon there.

lots of thoughts crossed through my mind that day and even afterwards. watching the aspiring stars march into the audition room group after group, i felt strangely touched. here are a group of young people daring to put themselves out there to audition for the opportunity of a lifetime.

be honest with me, or at least be honest with yourselves, how many of you out there too have or had a dream? and how many of you just stopped at dreaming, and not daring, not wanting to even try to make that dream come true? and how many of you simply thought to yourselves that it ain't gonna happen to YOU and you just plain stopped dreaming?

seriously, if all of us think this way, there will be no progress, no innovation in this world, and there will be no heroes and no new stars in this world. i guess other than talents, the other thing that often stands in the way of breaking new ground is... whether you dare to try and make your dream come true.

anyway, let's get back to the audition story on thursday, shall we? reached there at around noon and the registration area was set up at the entrance of the community club. nothing that spectacular here... except that there's the official poster being put up at the end of the tables.

and on the day of the audition, i believe most of the candidates had a bit of a taste of the life of a star, especially one who's just debut and can't quite act like a rock star yet... yes, the endless waiting!

now there's the online registration and also the walk-in, and i understand that quite a number of the online registrants were notified to show up at 8am. that's mighty early! when i walked past the registration area and got into the general common area, i saw loads more people just sitting or hanging around. yes, all young people hoping that the audition would change their lives^^

as i followed the signs leading to the audition room, i saw... FOOD!

whoa...!! didn't know food's provided! to be honest, they really didn't need to do this, especially since there's a cafeteria (with quite many stalls too! aigoo, i haven't been to a CC for ages and didn't know they now have such fab facilities!) and the candidates could easily have gotten food without going far. hmmm.... my impression of the organizers went up quite many notches, hehe!

i walked somemore to check things out, and saw a room with candidates having their hair styled by hairstylists! not bad, not bad at all...!

okie, then i walked somemore... saw more signages like this one!

hee, one practical lesson learnt from here is to just print the words without printing the arrow. yea, the next time you organize an event and need to put up directional signages, perhaps it's best to just prepare the printout and save the arrows to be drawn on the paper on the actual day. just remember to bring your markers, keke! (okie, okie, i do realise this is totally random and beside the point...)

wanna check out the 'setup' of the audition room?

here, the 'branded' backdrop in the audition room where candidates were supposed to stand and strut their stuff. keke, doesn't it sorta remind you of all these uber-glamorous award ceremonies where the stars would stop for photo opportunities in front of boards like this? i was sooooo... tempted to go take a pic of myself in front of the board!

basically, candidates were put into groups of 10 and each time, there's a group of 10 upfront in the audition room taking turns to show the panel of judges what they're made of. at the same time, there would also be another group of 10 sitting at the side waiting their turns. the panel of judges as well as some staff were also present inside the audition room, of course.

the judges were seated across the candidates, and there's also a video camera set up on the spot to capture the auditioning candidate on-screen. i guess it goes without saying that if you wanna be a star, it helps alot if the camera loves you, ya? in particular, the JYP guys were to be checking out the monitor fairly frequently. in fact one of them was also seen to be doing his own recording with his own handycam in some cases.

here's a closer look at the monitor i was talking about...

each candidate was supposed to just present one audition item, be it singing, dancing, modelling, or hosting/VJ'ing. in most cases, it's kindda easy to guess which candidate was gonna do what based on what they're wearing. hee, do you wanna try guessing which candidate's singing, dancing, modelling or hosting from the pic below?

and... i'd thought the pic below was really quite telling of the cross-section of candidates who turned up.

yup, definitely more gals than guys. i tried asking for the gender split, but the organizers have been really swamped (especially since they had sooooo many candidates today!), so they haven't exactly collated the data yet.

and there's the occasional aspiring child star here and there... and yes, even the clothes they wore for the audition's quite representative... sadly! i saw lots of tees and shorts, tees and jeans, and yes, most were just way too nonchalantly and carelessly casual it's kindda painful to watch... i mean, if the audition truly meant so much to you, wouldn't you have put in more effort to make sure you looked your best? baffles me how some people turned up dressed in a way that i wouldn't even be caught dead in when doing marketing or something! (and nope, i kid you not!)

did you know that survey has shown that the #1 fear of most people in the whole wide world is... public speaking?

yes, i'm fully aware of how most of us (yes, even the best of us) can be apprehensive about going up to the front to address people, let alone put up some performance item and being judged too! but but but... still, if you wanna be a star, surely you will have to find some way to overcome your fear or at least disguise it such that the tell-tale signs are minimal? and your nerves really shouldn't get into the way of you putting up your best show.

during that afternoon, i saw quite a number of candidates forgetting their lyrics, and i even saw a couple of candidates singing whilst reading the lyrics in their hands!! i did try to be sympathetic, yes, i really did try, but mianehae, i wasn't too successful. i still maintain that you can't be TOO nervous if you're trying to be a performer!

and... for those singing, though i'm nowhere near to being an expert, even i know you should maximize the opportunity to showcase your prowess during audition. this means that you should start singing at the part that demonstrates your singing ability best, instead of sticking to singing from the first line. you see, most songs start out slow and mellow, and the parts that will really demonstrate how well you sing are probably the parts that are mid-way, either the chorus or something.

so please, don't be silly and start from the beginning. you might be stopped even before you reach the parts that will show the judges what your vocals can do. yes, go on ahead and start from the middle, if you want.

one more thing... i also think it's best to stick to something that the judges understand when you pick a song. you may be more familiar and comfortable with a chinese song, but seriously, i think an english or korean (provided your diction's clear and your pronunciation good) song might just be more appropriate. at least you'll be singing something that the JYPE team understands.

yes, i do know that they said you could sing in any language that you want, but there's also this thing about picking something that works best in your favour. and in this case, me thinks it works best if you're singing something they can actually understand. for instance, i saw in one of the cases on thursday, a particular candidate was doing her monologue/acting thingy, the judges were obviously interested and asked her if she could sing them something. she launched into a chinese song... only to be asked if she knew another song, and then she chose to sing another chinese song. then this time around, the judges came out right and asked if she could sing an english number. see what i mean by singing something they can actually understand...? (anyway, these are just my personal thoughts, and definitely do not represent the views of the kimchiland blog, nor the organizers, k?)

and here, check out some of the boys who turned up for audition that afternoon...

a few were not half-bad, but some were pretty bad. like if you don't have an 'attitood', why then did you pick a song that clearly requires 'attitood' to perform? and why did you pick a happy, cute girl-group song to dance to, but keep to such a glum and sad face throughout the dance?

and oh, some of the diction was sooooo unclear it took me more than three lines before i could make out if the candidates were singing in korean or mandarin. please, people, please try and sing clearly...? start by enunciating your words as clearly as possible? why sing like some american-born-chinese when you're a 100% singaporean, born, bred and educated here?

but but but, of course there're still some potentially good ones! these tend to be fairly good-looking young people who can both sing and dance. one other thing you'll notice about those who have been shortlisted is... they're hungrier for the opportunity than the rest, and they work harder at ensuring they get themselves noticed.

like the twin sisters in the pics below...

and this sweet-looking young lady's pretty good too!

and yes, although it's been said previously that those shortlisted would be hearing from JYPE and/or alpha in january, some of the candidates actually got notification on the day of their audition or these few days that they've been shortlisted.... in fact, there's already a photo-shoot and interview session being arranged today (11th dec, sat).

seems like there're close to 3,000 applications (i'll have to double-check on the exact number later), with about 700 from 8th and 9th dec respectively and over 1,000 for today (11th), and they've shortlisted about two dozens so far. and yes, 'SHORTLISTED' doesn't mean they're confirmed 'IN', no contracts have been offered yet. but hey, to be one of the selected ones out of the thousands of candidates, that's still a fairly big deal, you know...?

here's a sampling of the audition from thursday...

before i go, i wanna leave you with some 'interesting' (at least to me, wakaka!) takeaways from my outing to senja-cashew CC on thursday.

i'm no singer (and no worries, i know it myself, so you'll be spared of any torture from having to hear me sing), so tell me, tell me... does it make you sing better if you hold your stomach like the candidates did in the pics below? *scratches head*

and... was some blogshop having a sale on tees with big letters like these...? if not, why's every other person wearing a tee like this? aigoo, if i were from JYP, i'd be wondering what's with the singaporeans.... why was everyone dressed in so alike a fashion? it's either tees like these, or checkered shirts... and i'd lost count of the number of peeps in shorts and leggings (!) if you have to know, i belong to the camp that believes leggings are leggings and should not be worn in place of pants *shakes head*

next... this is almost too shameful to be posted!! so i decided to just flash the feet and crop away the faces (to protect the innocent)

many fashion critics have said that we singaporeans are often dressed way too casually, and we don't seem to grasp the concept of 'dress code'. i've to say i totally agree with that statement, and we really don't seem to understand the need to dress for the occasion. i mean, how else would you explain people wearing such footwear to an audition? did they just decide on the spur of the moment to go for the audition on their way to the wet market or something...?? or were they heading for the beach...?

to me, dressing right and appropriately for the occasion is not vanity. it's respect. respect for the parties you're meeting, respect for the occasion, and respect for yourself too.

other than tiff who's been invited to be the official blogger, the mainstream media was there to cover the event too! i know straits times, OMY and razorTV were there... here's razorTV on day one of the audition.

what did i say about dreaming earlier...? that one should dare to dream, ya?

wanna add on that one can never be too old or too young to dream. just look at these wannabes! i know a couple of them are only nine years old...! hey, if the children dare to dream, don't you all think that we adults need to live life a little more, and dream a little more?

Korean drama in our local CF

2010-12-04T01:30:00.001+08:00

It's been a long time since I watch our local TV stations so I'm quite out of touch. But someone just provided me with a link to this local CF for EZ Link card. Rather dramatic (intentionally of course) but that's why it's funny. Great for destressing and makes a great change from all the usual K pop stuff that I've been writing. Enjoy.

PaymentLink - Cut the drama with contactless payment

Pssttt.... the actor is under the same agency for Lee An. You can check out Boom Korea's FB

I Love Asia Pop- Mnet Ultimate Live update

2010-12-02T03:24:00.001+08:00

Edited on 2nd December

Launch Group has updated the I Love Asia- Mnet Ultimate Live FB with regards to the queuing system for the concert. Just like all other events, there is no perfect system that will please everyone. So just accept whatever system that Launch Group has planned and enjoy the concert. And please note...the concert is at Singapore Marina Bay Sands Exhibition Hall E, so they are giving out the queuing tags at MBS.

This is the line-up of the performances that night:
MBLAQ
Miss A
2AM
B2ST
2PM

For thos who didn't read my previos post on their flight details, click here Tickets are on sale at Sisic.

Queuing system for Mnet Ultimate Live on 4th December
Timings:
7am - Official issuing for colour tags to start. Proceed to Level 1 of Expo Hall. This will be the only entry point.
Until 9am - Colour tags to be distributed in order of first 1000.
1.30pm - Official queue & priority queue will begin.
4pm - Blue Zone & Priority Queue to enter.
4.20pm - Yellow Zone to enter.
4.45pm - Public to enter.

Colour Tags
Blue Tags: 1st 500 Fans
Yellow Tags: 2nd 500 Fans
- All issued tags will have their sistic ticket punched.
- If you lose your colour tags, you will have to join the public queue.

No immediate queuing will be allowed after collection of colour tags. All public are urged to come back only at the official timing to queue in their respective colour zones.

Official Queue Lines for all 3 zones will start at 1.30pm. Those with colour tags, you are to queue in your respective colour zone. Those without coloured tags, you are to queue in the public zone.

No overnight queuing is required. Please rest assured that even if you are not the first 1000 pax with the colour tags, there are still plenty of good view and space within the venue. Layout of stage is specially designed for a closer view between you and the artistes.

Conditions for colour tags
Tickets must be brought in person for exchange of colour tags. One colour tag to one person. If you have 4 tickets but only 1 person queuing, you will only be allowed to have 1 colour tag. Please have your wrist tag properly tag on your wrist before coming down at 1.30pm.

Entry to redeem COLOUR tags at 7am will be through escalator located on Level 1 facing & nearer to HALL B.
There will be signages to direct you if you've forgotten which escalator.

Reminder: We strongly urge public not to bring in cameras/camcorders so as to faciliate a faster queue entry.

I believe priority & media have a seperate queue and they will have access to the better section in the mosh pits. However, if the pits are not filled up, then 30 minutes before the concert, they will let the normal ticket holders go in. This was as far as I remember how the dea; goes but it's difficult to retrieve the older postings, so I hope I didn't this wrong.

Launch reposted the queuing system but without all the small details like their earlier post. So except for the change in time, I'm assuming everything remains the same.

And now, the details for the various fan meets.

ARTIST: MISS A
Date: 4th December 2010
Time: 1050am -1115am
Venue: IMM Garden Plaza

First 200 fans to produce a paid/valued Mnet Sistic Ticket will be allowed to meet Miss A for photograph session in groups of 10pax. Btw, Suzy will not be at the concert as she is busy filming her movie.

There will be two queues, one for Miss A & one for MBLAQ.
Miss A will be donating an Autograph Poster to the Disabled People's Association for an auction at a later date.

ARTIST: MBLAQDate: 4th December 2010
Time: 10am - 1045am
Venue: IMM Garden Plaza

FIRST 150 fans to RSVP to wmsregional@gmail.com will receive ALL 5 MBLAQ members’ signature, face-to-face! (RSVP based on First-Come-First-Served basis)

Require BOTH:
A) The Mnet Ultimate Live in Asia (MULA) Concert Ticket AND
B) The MBLAQ Asian Special Edition Album [Singapore Version]*

I read that Warner Music has already started emailing to successful fans, so I doubt if there's any more to give away.

IMM will allow queuing at the pathway.The venue will be opened at 830am.

ARTIST: 2PM
Date: 3rd December 2010
Time: 730pm -830pm
Venue: IMM Garden Plaza

First 150 fans to produce 2PM's "Still 2:00pm Singapore Version Mini Album" and a paid/valued Mnet Sistic Ticket will be allowed to meet 2PM for autographs.

IMM will allow queuing at the pathway from 2pm onwards.
We will open the venue at 5pm.
No entry via the Mall.

Sony Music will be giving out 150 posters for the lucky fans for autograph.

2PM will be donating an Autograph Poster to the Disabled People's Association for an auction at a later date.

Please note:

All Mnet tickets holders will be allowed into the Sky Garden only (tickets with 0.00 value or valued) but only those with value tickets (which means those tickets that you bought from sistic).

Wow! I can forsee lots of young people on the move. Good worl for dispersing the crwd at the concert venue. Hehehe!

And oh, finally, official merchandies on sale at the concert itself. Bring cash!

JYPE Audition in Singapore

2010-12-02T00:23:00.002+08:00

Edited 2nd December

I think almost everyone harbours thought to be a star judging from the various reality shows (The Apprentice, Project Runways) and talent programmes (like the Idol series, Singapore's very own Star Search etc). So it's no wonder that JYPE's audtion in Singapore and Hong Kong are creating such a stir. Plus the immense popularity of K Pop and Hallyu for the past few years, well, it's not suprising that everyone wants to be part of the NEXT boy/ girl band.

JYP has consistantly groomed stars- like Rain, Wonder Girls, 2PM, Miss A, Beast etc, so I guess all aspiring stars want to join the agency. The audition will be organised by Alpha Entertainment and JYPE. I've taken time to check with Alpha Entertainment about some issues (coz I'm blur too), and hopefully, this post will help those who are keen to audition.

JYPE Audition- Asia- Registration
1) Please download your form from JYPE Asia audition site here.
2) Fill up and email your form back as instructed.
3) Please fill in your REAL NAME as stated in your i/c or passport.
4) Please print out 3 copies of the form.
5) Email to Alpha Entertainment (audition@alphaent.com) with the following:
- REGISTRATION NO (Singapore-xx-xxxxxx)
- REGISTRATION NAME
- DATE OF BIRTH
- SINGAPORE/ HONG KONG (write down the country that you are going to audition in)
- Sing/Act/Model/DJ (write down the catgory that you auditioning for)
Put 'Audition Registration' on your subject when you email to Alpha Entertainment.
6) You will not receive any acknowledgement from Alpha as the number of emails received daily is too many.
7) For those who have trouble sending in their application, please email your problems to error@alphaent.com. Please be clear in describing what your problem is so that they can help you. Alternatively, please print a screen shot of what you have keyed together with the error message to the briefing and Alpha will try and sort it out for you as much as possible.
ONLINE REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

JYPE Audition- Asia- Information
1) There is no fees for auditioning.
2) This audition is only open to those between 9 to 26 years old (ie, 1984-2001- If you are born in1983, you would be 27 this year).
3) It is opened to all nationalities.
4) Audition dates are 8th, 9th & 11th December ~~(2nd round)~~ for Singapore and 17th & 18th December (2nd round) for Hong Kong.
5a) Audition for Singapore will be at Senjew-Cashew CC, 9am to 6pm.
5b) For Hong Kong, the audition venue will be at Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition, HITEC Room 1 & 2, 9am to 6pm.
6) You will receive an email from JYP informing you of your audition date by the latest 6th December.
7) Judges will be from JYPE. Presumably, JYP will there personally...I'm not sure.
8) Registration closes on 30th November online. You can still register on the day itself (8th for SG & 17th for HK)) but piority will be given to those who register online.
9) They will inform you of the selection via email in January. For HK, I presume there is still a second round.

JYPE Audition- Asia- Rules and preparation
1) They are auditioning for singers, actors, VJs (video jockeys), hosts and models. NO DANCERS. You can sing and dance at the same time.
2) Solo acts only. NO GROUPS. (I'm sure JYP would rather form his own group himself).
3a) Singers- there is no need to prepare cd anymore. You will have sing without music background.
3b) Hosts, VJs, Actors- prepare 3 acts of one minute. This can be prepared or impromptu.
3c) Models- as many different types of posing and catwalk as possible I guess.
I've asked them why 3 acts/ songs. Alpha replied that this is in case you go through round 1 and go onto round 2. And I guess one extra song/ act just in case..... imagine if you sing a fast number and the judges want to hear you sing a ballad as well.....don't get caught off guard.
4) You can sing in any language.

JYPE Audition- Asia- After the audition
1) You will be notified if you are selected in January by JYPE.
2) There are no fixed number of people they are planning to select. I guess as many or as little that fulfil their needs.
3) And if you do get selected, the necessary visa, accomodation, meals will be provided. Training will of course definitely be provided by JYPE (that's the whole idea of this audition).
4) NO ALLOWANCE will be given. What does this mean? This means that if you want to buy a cd, a book, a dress, watch that movie, take a taxi...you will have to fork out money yourself.
5) No sponsors allowed. That is to say, you cannot go to Mediacorp, SPH or any company to sponsor your training in JYPE.
6) Training is full time...ie, if you are currently studying now, you will have to stop your studies or quit your job if you are working.
7) Training could be six months, one year, two years etc... It depends on how good you are and how fast you pick things up and how ready JYPE thinks you are.
8) I believe only upon completion of training will you be offered a contract. This is my personal deduction and not verfied.
9) JYPE will have first right of selection, followed by Alpha Entertainment. So if you don't get selected by JYPE, you may get selected by Alpha Entertainment. But I don't know what the terms are. I'm sure they will let you know after you've been selected.
10) Alpha is now discussing with JYP with regards to training for those who are still schooling or who are in NS.

Pre-audition and audition day
1) JYP judges are already in town so Alpha will not be entertaining any more phone calls.
2) There is no more second round for Singapore as they have received over 3,000 entries (although I'm sure there is definitely less than 3,000 as so many sent in multiple entries). I believe there is no change for Hong Kong but I can't confirm at the moment.
3) You will receive an email from JYP informing you of your audition date- either 8th, 9th or 11th December.
4) Please report at the venue at 8am sharp for your audition.
5) If you have received more than one emails from JYP (because you have applied more than once), then please go on the earlier date (eg, you received emails asking you to go down on the 8th and 11th Dec, please go down on the 8th Dec).
*You will be disqualified if you cannot make it on the earliest date as given to you*
6) Audition time for 8th & 9th December- 9am to 6pm and 11th December- 9am to 1pm
7) If you have made a mistake on your form (wrong name, wrong gender, wrong height etc), you can amend it there on the day itself.
8) If you have deleted your form by mistake, please print out the email from JYP with the audition date and the other necessary documents and come down on the date instructed.
9) For those with special reasons whi cannot attend on itself or @ 8am sharp (exams etc), please report to the help desk at the earliest time possible and the staff @ Alpha will try and help you as far as possible. However, priority will be given to those are supposed to be there.

For any other queries not answered on their FB or here, please email to them.
Alpha's email- info@alphaent.com

Things to bring:
Please bring along 5 copies of the form, 5 passport size photos (no photocopies please), a copy of the email from JYP with your audition date, NRIC/passport/student pass and cd with your songs for the audition.

And lots of confidence with an aim to give this only one chance your best shot.

There is a very high likelyhood that the venue may change due to the large number of participants, so please keep checking Alpha's FB for updates. I will update on my twitter and this post as soon as I can.

Alpha Entertainment's FB
Alpha's twitter
Alpha's website
JYPE's audition site

JYPE and Alpa Entertainment reserves the right to disqualify participants who do not follow instructions or send in mulitple entries.

And now, my own 2 cents worth of thoughts after seeing some of the questions posed on the FB.

Training to be in the entertainment field is not fun and games. Before the glamour and even after the glamour comes, require full discipline and following instructions correctly. And yet, judging from all the questions asked on Alpha's FB so far, it seems many do not read instructios...or perhaps we have become a spoon-fed nation. If you really want to find out what has been posted by Alpha on the FB, just do a filter and look for the tab 'Just Alpha Entertainment' right at the top. It is not difficult. And I thought my posting here has been fairly clear as well. I guess I am wrong. So here are some very commonly 'asked questions'.

- No, you cannot choose the date or time that you want to audition for. JYPE & Alpha Entertainment are running the audition..not you.
- If you don't have passport size photos, for goodness sake, go and have the photo taken. Do you expect the judges to remember how you look like out of over 3,000 participants?
- Prepare three ONE minute song. Not one minute and 15 seconds, not one minute and 20 seconds...but one minute (60 seconds).
- Please bring all the necessary documents on the audition day itself.
- You choose one and only one category that you want to audition for...not multiple categories.

The whole audition will be recorded by JYPE/ Alpha Entertainment. They will have the right to use it for their own promotions/ publicity. It will be infront of a panel of judges, possibly in front of other participants as well. So please, if you cannot perform in front of a crowd, then you should seriously reconsider. Someone has very kindly uploaded the JYPE audition that was held in Hong Kong in 2007. This was the one where Hye Rim was selected. She was 14 then, but she did not debut as part of Wonder Girls straightaway. You can figure out for yourself how many years were spent training. (Actually, during the SG Wonder Girls visit recently, the girls all mentioned how hard the training was). Thank you very much, annonymous for leaving this link on my site.

And here's another clip on Jo Kwon of 2AM during another JYP audition. He was 13 years old then and he definitely showed everyone that he can sing and dance. But even he took years of training before he finally debut.

But if you think you've got a great voice, fantastic acting skills etc, but don't look so great, go anyway. Unless you are a model, talent is the most important aspect. And even for modeling, it is that X Factor that matters, not looks.

Personally, I think the most important thing to do is to have fun and not stressed yourself out. It's not a life-and-death event (although I guess some might not agree with me ^^).

Good luck everyone! I will be updating more when and if I can....

Sshhhh....
JYP officials will be here from the 5th Dec onwards. What are they going to be doing....It's a secret....don't worry, I'm sure JYPE or Alpha will release the news soon. ^^

And here's a recording from the very cute 2PM especially for this audition. Too bad, there's no translation. Hwaiting everyone! And do remember to check on Alpha's FB everyday for updates contsantly.

Finally, I am not an employee of JYPE or Alpha Entertainment. I'm afraid I can't questions that I have no information on. It is best that you check with Alpha Entertainment during the briefing or on their FB. That said, I will try and help as much as I can within my capabilities.

Ultimate Mnet Live in Asia- Flight details

2010-11-27T01:34:00.000+08:00

The concert is next week. Are you all excited? Hyped up? ^^ For fans of Mblaq and Miss A, it will be their first visit here and I'm sure they are planning to give them a big welcome. For 2PM, 2AM and Beast, this will be their 2nd or 3rd time here but I'm sure their fans are just as thrilled.

Anyway, Launch Entertainment, the organiser has very kindly released the flight details, so you all can go to the airport and welcome them. If you have been following my twitter, you would have known about their flight details this afternoon. For those who don't, here it is...

2AM
Date: 1 December
Flight: SQ609
Terminal: T3
Time: 2150

2PM, Miss A, MBlaq
Date: 3 Dec
Flight: SQ603
Terminal: T3
Time: 1415

Beast
Date: 4 Dec
Flight: SQ 603
Terminal: T3
Time: 1415

The organiser had released information about the queuing system earlier but they have just announced that they are going to make some changes to it so as to make it easy for everyone and hopefully to avoid a chaotic scene. So please do check out the I Love Asia Pop! presents Mnet Ultimate Live in Asia - Singapore Facebook. But doors will open at 4.30pm and they aim to start promptly at 6pm. ^^

I will update when I can.

Tickets are still available at sistic @ S$188 (excluding S$3 handling fees).

Hurry up and go get your tickets already. ^^

Seoulful Living giveaway

2010-11-26T04:00:00.001+08:00

This is my last post for the night/ early morning. ^^

Remember I wrote about Li Yi's new book earlier?

Well, our very pretty DJ turned lecturer turned writer is giving away one copy of her latest book to the readers here. You can even get it autographed by her this Saturday during her autograph session.

Just answer the following question:
Question) What is the title of Tan Li Yi's book?

Email your answer to kimchilandpromotion@gmail.com with the following details:

1) Your name (as in i/c or passport)
2) Your i/c number
3) Your contact number

Contest ends on 2359, 26th November 2010. Winner will be notified via sms and posted here as well. Please note that winner is to collect the book at Kinokuniya Takashimaya during Li Yi's autograph session.

Autograph session details:
Venue: Kinokuniya Takashimaya
Time: 3.30pm to 5.30pm
Date: 27th November 10

Please show her your support! ^^

Se7en in Singapore

2010-11-26T03:33:00.000+08:00

For a free performance by a Korean artiste, there isn't much information out there. I couldn't find it on Singtel's FB nor Samsung Mobile's FB, unless my eyes are playing tricks on me. I found this picture and infor on 100.3's FB! I guess Ken may be there?

The event is free standing but IT"S FREE!!! Not many events free nowadays.

For those not familiar with Se7en (as he's been away in US for quite a while), Se7en was in the drama, Goong-S and of course he is a singer. He has frequently been compared to Rain in the past, coz just like Rain, he's a very good dancer.

Thereafter, he disappeared off to US (just like Rain) and tried to make it there. I haven't heard much about his activities there though so I can't comment. But he has released an English didgital single and is preparing for an English album. So I guess he did ok there. I assume he will sing both English and Korean songs.

'I'm going Crazy' from Digital Bounce.

GIRLS (Feat. Lil Kim) - Se7en's first English Single

Ok...go down tomorrow to Mandarin Gallery. And if you want some hands-on experience with Samsung Tab (which seems to be getting some good reviews), you can go down earlier.

2AM - Saint O'clock

2010-11-26T02:00:00.006+08:00

When they first debut in 2008, they were a little overshadowed by their counterpart, 2PM. Well, I guess it's a little difficult to beat an upbeat dance song with great dnace moves and featuring G.NA. But whilst almost everyone I knew bought 2PM's album then, I bought 2AM's debut album, 2AM 1st Single. I liked their title track, This Song. These boys can really sing.

Over the past 2 years, they have proved their vocal capability by coming with great songs like, Confession of a Friend and Even if I Die, I Can't Send You (somehow the English translation sounds really funny). Their next title track, 'I Did Wrong' in their repackaged 2AM 2nd Mini Album

I Did Wrong was a departure from their ballad image and genre. This has a much faster beat and portrayed the boys in a much more matured image. I really like Seulong's biker image in the mv. ^^

In October 2010, they finally released their first full length album- Saint O'clock

And I like it. I really do.

This is the title track- You wouldn't answer my call

And 'Like Crazy' is the other promoted song.

They are both similar to their usual style, which they do so well. But for me personally, I like their last title track- I Can't Say I Love You. It has a very nice beat and some part of the song reminds me of SG Wannabe's harmonious voices. I think they should have promoted this as the other title track as it showcase a slightly different genre from the above 2 songs. But that's my personal opinion.

Anyway, by now, if you are a fan of 2AM, you would have known by now that not only will they be here for the Mnet Live happenning on the 4th December, they will also be here much earlier to autograph their latest album organised by Universal Music Singapore.

Here are the details:
1) Buy a copy of the album, Saint O'clock which is out in the stores now.
2) Each album contains a ticket- gold and silver

Gold ticket:
The Golden ticket entitles you to the following:
1) Entry to the autograph session
2) An autograph on your [Saint O’Clock] album by the 4 boys

Silver ticket:
1) Entry to the autograph session
2) 2AM EXCLUSIVE SINGAPORE PREMIUMS
& ONLY if time permits, would the ticket holder be allowed an autograph opportunity.

Besides the autograph session happenning on the 2nd December, there is another event going on now. A closed door fan session with the selected few. Wah! Some of the media running this contest- omy, 100.3, U Weekly, Wanbao etc. Universal Music Singapore has also just started running this contest. They are giving away a pair of tickets to this closed door fan meet. Check out their FB for more details.

Activities for 2AM so far:
2nd Dec, 4pm- Private Fan meet
2nd Dec, 7.30pm- Autograph session
4th Dec, 6pm- Mnet Ultimate Live

They should be arriving on the 1st December, but I guess better wait for organiser to confirm flight details. ^^

Ok people- go get the album and the ticket to watch them perform live.

Pssst... Check back this site later... there may just be some goodies to give away. ^^

And pssst again...those of you who think you can become the next 2AM or G.NA, remember to register for the JYPE audition in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Seoulful Living, Korean Celebrity Hotspots by Tan Li Yi

2010-11-24T02:41:00.002+08:00

I'm sure many of you would know Li Yi from Yes93.3. She may not be working at the radio station anymore. (She'now a 老师 ^^). But I'm sure many would still remember the many press conferences and events she hosted for Korean celebrities in town. And of course her programme, 哈本营. She's also led a couple of trips to Korea. Together with May Choon from RazorTV, they were both pioneers in Korean Entertainment.

In 2006, Li Yi published a book called '韩国，짱!'. In the book, the first of it's kind published locally, she gave little tips on Korean customs as well as situational conversation Korean. But most interesting of all, she gave a whole list of places that the Korean celebrities frequent or own. But it was in Chinese and many of her readers and fans were disappointed. Neverthesless, the book was sold out and became out-of-print very quickly.

But she has always expressed a desire to write another book.

Guess what? She has done it. And this time, it is bilingual. ^^

In her own words, the book '...focuses on the choice shopping and hangouts for celebrities in South Korea. Zoom in on the coolest cafes, toprated restaurants, sleekest clubs, snazziest fashion boutiques and most celebrated beauty salons that are owned or frequented by Korean celebrities.'

I glanced through a chapter of it and it list some pretty interesting places.

Want to know which hair salon Big Bang and 2NE1 frequent? Which late night restaurant SHInee eats at? Curious to find out which botique Wonder Girls shop at? All these and more in Li Yi's book.

Her new book 'Seoulful Living, Korean Celebrity Hotspots' is now out on sale in Kinokuniya. Grab a copy and get her and get her beautiful autograph this Saturday, 27th November 10.

'Seoulful Living, Korean Celebrity Hotspots' Autograph session
27th November 10, 3.30pm- Kinokuniya Takashimaya

I want to go to go to Jenny House!

The Face Shop- Kim Hyun Joong Asia Tour

2010-11-24T01:25:00.000+08:00

Next week, Kim Hyun Joong will be in Singapore for The Face Shop. Already, there has been much hype and excitment building up. Not least because all 120 tier 1 tickets costing $250 to the autograph session were snapped up in a flash over the weekend.

I first came across The Face Shop when I went to Korea in 2003. There, during my maiden trip, I was absolutely fascinated with all the cosmetics brand. Not least because the products they offered were wide and very, very affordable. The Face Shop stood out then because of it's clean, white shop image. Over the years, many of the brands I knew then had disappeared, only to be replaced by new ones. The Face Shop is one of few brands that has remained till today. And in Singapore itself, it has expanded over the years too. There is one in almost every mall. I may not know much about cosmetics but it is a reasonable guess that the brand would not have been able to survive and expand if the products are not good enough. Celebrity power alone would not be able to fuel and sustain it.

Many people associate Kwon Sang Woo with The Face Shop, as he has been it's spokesperson for a good 5 years at least. In fact, The Face Shop Singapore also invited Kwon Sang Woo over here in 2006. I remember that caused a storm and jam as well (I think he visited the Marina Square store). I'm sure it will be the same for Kim Hyun Joong this time. Though this time round, there will be no orchid named after Kim Hyun Joong. ^^ After The Face Shop ended it's contract with Kwon Sang Woo in 2008 (that was shortly after he got married), Bae Yong Joon became it's spokesperson until this year, when he passed on the baton to Kim Hyun Joong. I read that BYJ's Japanese fans would buy truckload of The Face Shop products when they are in Korea. : )

I don't use much skin care products from The Face Shop (actually, I don't use much skin care products.. period...I'm just plain lazy. hehehe!) but I do buy quite a few of the cosmetics from them..especially their eye shadow range. ^^ And of course the face masks. Their range is fantastic. From the very affordable to the slightly pricier one. So I think it would not be a problem to spend $100 on the products. Because that is the amount you will have to spend to gain entry to the autograph session at IMM on the 3rd December.

The Face Shop has also very kindly released other details of his visit. If everything works out well and nobody goes bersek, then I think everyone will have a good chance to see him...which would make everyone happy.

Anyway, here are the details and infor about his visit and the autograph session. Please note that tickets are not on sale. You have to buy products from the Face Shop to redeem this ticket.

Tier 1 VIP tickets
120 tickets @ $250 each. You get priority entry and standing position @ IMM as well as an autographed poster from him personally. 10 lucky fans will also get selected to take a photo with him. Plus got goodie bag. This tier is totally sold out liao.

Tier 2 Entry tickets
1,200 Entry tickets to IMM @ $100 each (TFS products only. No purchase of vouchers). You will also get a goodie bag. Tickets go on sale this Thursday (25/11) at all TFS outlets.

His activities:
1st December - arrival (flight details unknown at the moment)
2nd December - Press conference in the morning
3.30pm- store visit at Tampines
3rd December - store visit @ IMM in the morning
11am- fan sign session

A charity auction will be conducted during he fan sign. 2 life size standees of Kim Hyun Joong will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. All proceeds go to World Vision's One Life Fund that helps local children (ie, Singapore in this case) who inherited AIDS. The 2 succesful bidders will also get a chance to go on stage to have a photo taken with him. This auction is opened to both Tier 1 and Tier 2 ticket holders. Please donate generously for a good cause. ^^

And rest assured that The Face Shop will deliver the standee to your house after the auction. Although I'm sure some fans wouldn't mind walking around with 'Kim Hyun Joong'. hehehe!

bb has done a very good write up on The Face Shop's background and the products. Did you know that The Face Shop is own by LG? Fascinating isn't it? Anyway, read the story here. And if you want to know more about the skin care products and what to buy, check out her post here.

More information about Kim Hyun Joon's visit on The Face Shop's FB

Before I end off...I'm just curious to see the different ads by the 3 different spokesperson over the years.

Which one do you like?

K Pop Night in pictures- Part 2

2010-11-19T12:13:00.000+08:00

Here's Part 2.

SHINee

SNSD (Girls Generation)

ZE:A

Press Conference
Photos thanks to KTO- Singapore & Indonesia. Actually, it's really tough to be in the entertainment industry. It may seemed all glamourous but it's hard work. SNSD was not in the press confererce because they arrived like on the afternoon of the concert and they flew back that same night. SHInee and Big Bang didn't stay the night either. But you've still got to appear good and give your best to thousands of fans who paid to watch you. I wouldn't have been able to do it.

See you all at the concert tonight!

K Pop Night in pictures- Part 1

2010-11-19T11:22:00.000+08:00

This is way over due and I haven't done justice to Kandace's beautiful photos by taking such a long time to put them up. So here they are. I've divided them into 2 parts as the post is picture heavy.

Big Bang

D.NA (The Boss)

FT Island

Infinite

U-Kiss arrives today for Kings of Freedom concert

2010-11-18T09:57:00.004+08:00

U-Kiss will be arriving today, 18 th November 10 for The Kings of Freedom concert tomorrow. Flight details as follow:

Flight no: SQ603
Time: 1435
Although I have retweeted from Official U Kiss Sg that it will be at T3, belt 44, there is no confirmation of this infor on the changi airport site as yet.

Ticket are still available. Just call 6554 0850 (during office hours) or 9794 8289 (after working hours). Or you can email ukisslivesg@gmail.com. Hurry up if you want to see them. Tix is only @ S$38 for the concert at Bedok Reservoir.

I'm sure U-Kiss fans will want to see them again after their appearance in Singapore recently. Best of all, they have a brand new album out...

See you all tomorrow!

Psss...want to see want Alevander is bringing to Singapore. Catch his tweet

Pssst...want to go Korea for free?

2010-11-15T04:05:00.001+08:00

Yes, yes, got free trip to Korea.

Korea Tourism Organisation here in Singapore is organising a free trip to Korea for 2 lucky winners to experience Winter Wonderland in Korea. Wheeee!

What do you have to do?

First of all, you have to be a member of Wah! Korea. If you're still not a member, click here to find out how you can become one.

Next- make sure you have a blog (in whatever media form) active for the last 3 months (I don't think it has to be Korean centric) but you must have at least 50 hits per day.

Lastly, tell the very nice people at KTO why you want to want to go on this trip (eat Korean food, breathe Korean air, buy Korean fashion or see one of the Korean hunks. wahahaha!)

That's all. Contest ends on 18th November, so hurry!

For more infor, go to KTO Singapore & Indonesia's FB.

On a side note, anyone watched Haru? Anyone made their own movie? They really had many of the artistes involved in this project. Hehe! I see my Man's restaurant being featured- Gorilla in the Kitchen. ^^ Angel by Super Junior. The ost for Haru.

The Kings of Freedom Concert- U Kiss, 19th November 10

2010-11-15T03:07:00.002+08:00

News about this concert started circulating on the internet sometime ago, even before the K Pop concert. Initially, the group was unknown..names thrown up were Beast, SHINee and U Kiss but no confirmation on the group coming. The only things that seemed confirmed were- a Korean boy band was coming and there would be a fan meet and concert. And ticket prices, which would normally cost about an arm and a leg, would be very affordable.

I have to say this... I was very, very suspicious of the whole project. I was even more suspicious when many of the K Pop sites started taking pre orders for the tix. One of the reason why I did not post about it here on my site (sorry, Youth Empire).

I'm not sure how many of the fans who bought the tix to watch U-Kiss are aware of the Kings of Freedom project (of which this concert is named after), but if they come away from the concert, understanding a little of it, then I think the whole concert and project would be worth it.

A year ago, 4 pieces of the infamous Berlin Wall that was especially painted by the German artist Dennis Kuan depicting the divided Germany that came about after World War 2 was donated and placed at the Bedok Reservoir. My knowledge of politics and history are hazy, but in short, Germany then was divided into West Germany and East Germany..ruled by different people with different idealogies.

For many of the fans who are going to watch U-Kiss, you may or many not know much about Germany back then. But I think not many would have been around when the Berlin Wall fell on the 9th November, 1989. Some may not even have been borned yet. Certainly, if my infor about the members of U-Kiss are correct, Alexander would have been about one year old, Soo Hyun about 8 months, whereas the rest of the members were not even around then.

But I do remember watching vivid images of people standing on the wall, crying and laughing. (I'm afraid I'm rather old). For days, every single media was 'talking' about this momentous event. Whilst I cannot fully empathise with the Germans, it must have meant alot to the many German families who were seperated by this wall.

So what and where are all the connections?

If you are still blur about the significance of this Berlin Wall.... Many of you Hallyu fans would be familiar Korean movies like 'Taekugi/ Brotherhood' (starring Won Bin and Jang Dong Gun, 'Joint Security Area' (starring Lee Byung Hun and Lee Young Ae) and the recent '71: Into the Fire' (starring T.O.P. and Kwon Sang Woo). Korea today is divided into North and South Korea and whilst it does not have the Berlin War, it does have the D.M.Z. Perhaps it is apt that a Korean band should be invited to celebrate this project. Many Korean families are still divided by this zone and hoping for a reunification one day.

The Kings of Freedom as a project was spearheaded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and I remember reading Minister George Yeo mentioning about it in his FB last year. (Btw, did you all know he attended the K Pop Night with his son? ^^). It is a symbol of hope and freedom and a reminder that we are all the same though we may be different. And perhaps one day, there would be no such 'wall' anywhere in the world.

The concert itself will not only feature U-Kiss, but also our own local acts like Sheikh Haikel, Stellastory and Daryl Yow. So remember people, please show your love not only for U-Kiss but also for our local acts. Give them a chance to show you their talents. ^^ Oh yes, there will also be a fan meet for U-Kiss fans at IMM at 12noon that day for 500 of the VVIP (@ S$168) ticket holders. Or you could just buy the normal ticket @ S$38 only. For more infor on the sale of the tickets, please refer to The Youth Empire FB.

Otherwise you could try and win tickets to the concert itself. Check out clicknetwork.tv. (there was also a contest by KTO- Singapore & Indonesia but it's over liao.

And now, for a lighter moment, here's an exclusive video from the boys themselves, who will be back in Singapore for the 2nd time this year!

And one of the song from their latest album, Only You- What. I'm sure they will be singing this song at the concert. ^^

Enjoy the concert everyone!

G.NA for Samsung GALAXY Tab launch at SingTel Comcentre

2010-11-12T09:54:00.003+08:00

Saw my tweet the other day? Yes, Gina will be back in Singapore again! This time she will be the guest at the launch of Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Just like Super Junior, customers who buy the Samsung GALAXY Tab will be able to watch this showcase for free. The deal is exclusive to SingTel at the moment. So what do you have to do?

Buy the Samsung Tab from SingTel. Details are here. Actually, I believe alot of guys (and gals) have aleady pre-ordered the Samsung GALAXY Tab. The Tab is available for pick up tomorrow (13th November). Present your receipt at Comcentre, watch the concert by G.NA and then collect your Tab. Simple. ^^

Why not collect Tab first and then watch concert? I'm not sure...maybe because everyone will be busy playing with their new toy to watch any concert. Haha!

Date: 13th November (Saturday)
Venue: SingTel Comcentre Foyer
Concert time: 7.10pm to 7.30pm
Collection time: 7.30pm to 11pm
Registration starts : 6.30pm

Not getting the Samsung GALAXY Tab but want to be up close and personal to G.NA? Not to worry, Universal Music Singapore is giving away tickets to 10 lucky fans. Just fill in the form here.

Hurry, contest ends today at 12noon!

I don't know much about GALAXY Tab except that it's a rival to Apple's i Pad. I do know that many people are waiting for it to see how it would fare against i Pad. And judging from the immense popularity of i Pad, I think the sales for Samsung GALAXY Tab should be pretty good too. Here's a review of it here

To all the fans of G.NA, do go down and support her tomorrow at SingTel Comcentre. I'm still hoping for a CUBE concert. SY- can?

I believe she is arriving today.

71: Into the Fire review

2010-11-05T03:49:00.001+08:00

Cast
Choi Seung Hyeon (T.O.P.) - Oh Jang Boem
Kwon Sang Woo - Koo Kap Jo
Cha Seung Won - Park Moo Rang
Kim Seung Woo - Kang Seok Dae

MV
Official site, Festive Films

This review is a little late. Sorry. Actually, I did start on it before I left but just simply had no time to finish it as I absolutely had to rush to the airport already.

Anyway, as I mentioned to the very nice lady at Festive Films, I'm not really keen on war movies. I'm also not too keen on horror movies but that's another story. But I was curious about TOP's performance in the movie. Because, well, let's face it, he is a very big reason why some people may be watching the movie.

TOP
Gist
It is the Korean War- the North is fighting against the South for control. Lots of lives were lost and many of them young children. Based on a true story, this movie is about how 71 students fought a North Korean army at the Pohang Girls' Middle School on 25 June 1950. Oh Jang Boem, a very young soilder has just been through a battle where he witnessed the death of his friend. He is traumatised. But it was because of this experience that he was left in charge of a group of young student soliders to defend the school (which is supposed to be a stratgic site but I forgot why). Naturally, the rest, who are much older than him, thought he was not good enough to lead. Amongst them is Kap Jo.

Kwon Sang Woo
Kap Jo is actually a criminal but who has volunteered to join the army to escape the prison cells (would they have any rooms for prison cells during war?). Anyway, he is obviously a gang leader and he is certainly not going to listen to a young pretty boy, who probably can't even fight. But then, they shouldn't have to fight coz that place is fairly safe.

And then along comes the big, bad North Koreans, led by the very confident Commander Park Moo Rang. He gave them a chance to live by giving them till the next day noon to give up and surrender.

Cha Seung Won
Of course the 71 students didn't and what ensued was one big bloody battle. It was a heoric story because if I remember the story correctly, the 71 students managed to hold off the North Korean army long enough to make a difference to the outcome of the war in some way.

Overview:
Did I enjoy the movie? I guess as far as war movies go, I did enjoy it. I had expected to be bored about all the silly fightings. But it wasn't violent for the sake of being violent. The battle scenes were there not to make a statement and act as the centrepiece. They were not over-the-top. The story was just simply about this group of students who tried very hard to fight a war that they were thrown into. There were no heroic acts because they were not trying to be heroes.

Some scenes stood out in my mind as I recalled the movie (which I watched more than 3 weeks ago. One was Kap Jo killing a very, very, very young Korean soldier as they were armbushed in the forest. His reason- any North Korean who holds a weapon is an enemy. The other scene was one of the student holding on to his young injured brother, as he laid dying in his arms. His young brother kept telling him that he felt like shitting (his guts were coming out) and he wanted to die. Now, that was one heart wrenching scene.

Some parts of the story were a little cliché like the clashes between Kwon Sang Woo and TOP and the 'apparent' desertion of Kwon Sang Woo's character, only to see him and his buddies back to help TOP again (I kept thinking of Harrison Ford in Star Wars). It was that sort of character. And the ending scene on top of the roof was just plain silly. It was a just a little too long (I know it's the climax) but hor, it was beginning to look like the villain who cannot die.

Which comes to my view of the various actors in the movie. What did I think of them?

I did not know what to expect out of TOP (I did not watch Iris). I only know him as part of Big Bang, a boy band. So I was surprised by his performance, in a good way. Ít was not great, standing ovation acting but I think this boy got potential.... namely because of his eyes. This guy's eyes speaks volume and what he didn't say, he did it through those eyes. Hopefully his next acting role will allow him to 'speak' more because he cannot keep acting as the strong, silent type if he wants to be taken seriously as an actor.

As for Kwon Sang Woo, I'm afraid at the risk of incurring the wrath of his many fans, I didn't see any real breakthrough. He reminded me of 'Cinderella Man' and 'Almost Love'. Maybe he has been too much typecasted in this sort of roles.

Kim Seung Woo as the senior, caring commander was good, but not enough of screen presence to make his role memorable enough. Although you can still tell that he is a veteran in those few scenes.

Kim Seung Woo
The star of the show, in my opinion and certainly the one with the juicy role was Cha Seung Won. He may be a big, bad guy. He may be the villain. He may be the enemy but gosh, he is truely charasmatic. He is good at being bad. You couldn't really tell what he was thinking from his lack of emotions on his face, (except of course that he was very confident and arrogant). Many of my friends have told me what a great actor he was in the drama, 'City Hall' with Kim Sun Ah. I'm looking forward to seeing him in the new drama, 'Athena'. ^^

'71:Into the Fire' is still showing at the Golden Village cinemas this weekend. But I think it may be the last weekend as there are lots of movies coming along the way. So do go watch it if you can this long weekend. It's a shame that TOP didn't get a chance to promote his own movie in Singapore. I heard they tried very hard but the schedule just didn't click.

Back in the Little Red Dot

2010-11-05T02:07:00.006+08:00

I'm back. Yup, back from Fish and Chips land. Did anyone miss me? hehe!

Actually, those following me on my twitter would have known I was back earlier. Coz there was a flurry of tweets from me yesterday. ^^ Yup, even more K artistes heading our way. And I thought they would all be taking a break.

Anyway, before I continue, I would like to say a big thank you to bb and kandace for helping me big time to cover this very important event. bb- for putting her great writing skills here, whilst still managing her other blogs and forums and Kandace, for taking the initiative to get the photographer's pass and taking such great photos. If you guys have yet to check out these 2 girls greats sites, please do so. ^^ I would also like to thank Prooflabel for being so understanding and letting me 'cover' the concert despite my absence.

I looked at the videos and photos for the concert and I can only imagine what a blast it must have been. 7 acts in one night. I think Singapore is really getting lively.

And yet, as I read the comments on the FB, I was also alittle disturbed at the many negative comments. Of course, some were valid. No concerts and events can be perfect. But some were definitely not.

Fans complained about other fans standing up and blocking their views. Yet, at JYJ's concert the previous week, fans were complaining that they weren't allowed to stand up. They complained about security not being strict enough and yet at the concert, some were complaining they were too strict.

Hmm....

So what do fans want exactly?

I can't answer that question coz I do agree that whilst it would be nice to stand up and go and with the flow during a rocking concert, I certainly don't want my view blocked by any butts.

I can only say that I don't think I want to organise any concerts coz it's really hard. What fans see is just the front stage. What goes on backstage is a 1,001 things that can and do go wrong.

And just touching on the bb's point on the explosion of the number of K Pop bloggers and forums in recent months. Attending press conferences and shows are hard work. Because you need to record, concentrate and write about it after attending the events. That is the 'payment' for the 'privilege'. You are not there to oggle at the artistes and scream how much you love him/ her/ them. And if you are a serious photographer like Kandace, you will be spending the rest of the time thinking about composing shots, running up and down the media pit and hope that you have covered every single possible best angles. There is no time to enjoy the concert properly. Or perhaps I should say, you end up looking at such events in a different light. Sorry Kandace. ^^ But of course there are some serious sites and bloggers out there, who are determind to do a good job. I take my hat off them because these people are really, really fast and good. ^^

This site was never started as a K Pop site. Actually, K Pop was not popular when I started writing in 2006. It was started because well, I like things Korean.....

Ok, ok.... it's mostly because I like the cute the Korean guys in the dramas. hehe!

What I want to say is, I hope this site will become more than a K Pop site and my readers will be back here again and again because well, there are other interesting aspects about Korea to write about. I'm still 'working' away on the changes to this site and hope to be able to get it all done before the end of the year. Cross fingers ok.

I will be posting up some lovely photos taken by Kandace soon and of course, upadating on other up and coming events. Stay tuned.

Lastly, besides bb and Kandace, I would like to say a very big thank you to the readers who have been coming tp this site even though I think I write rubbish sometimes. : )

Here's a photo that was taken in the Fish and Chips land. Great contrast to the weather here. It was about 8 degrees over there that day but lovely blue sky, so you wouldn't know it.

[Guest Blogger] Afterthots from Kpop Night Concert

2010-10-31T19:34:00.024+08:00

annyong peeps! i'm back, i'm back... back on tiffany's blog, that is...

after the FRILLS AND FRINGES, guess it's time for me to blog about the concert proper, ya?

but before that, let me touch abit on the comments and general feedback coming from the concert. i think it's fair and safe to say the event was a success. yes, despite the glitches and stuff, it was a success. oh, c'mon, don't think there's such a thing as a perfect event. even the seemingly perfect-est of events will have some behind-the-scene booboos that you and i may not be able to see.

what really counts is that the event happened (mostly) the way it's supposed to, with all the acts appearing, in the order they're supposed to, and performing whatever they had prepared, and that the fans who came had enjoyed themselves and went home safe. and... if the performing artists too had a great showing and a fab time, and the organizers pocketed enough to cover all expenses and then some, then i think we all can be happy.

i took some time to speak with quite a substantial number of concert-goers after the event, and ALL of them declared oh-so-loudly that they had enjoyed themselves thoroughly, and totally loved loved loved all the acts!

even for those who are complaining lots about this, this, that that... i dare you to go put up a perfect show where all involved parties are perfectly happy. not an easy job, i tell you... and this KPOP NIGHT CONCERT went on rather well, taking into consideration there're seven acts and some 8,000 fans involved. so thanks for putting together this event, PROOF LABEL.

i hope the strong showing from the kpop fans is enough to warrant the staging of perhaps one or two such kpop concerts every year.

that said, i also wanna say one more thing... coz of how kpop has shifted from alternative to mainstream, everyone wants to be a part of it now. organizers and event planners, seasoned or a day old, all want a piece of the action and everyone seems to be wanting to stage a fan meet, a showcase, or some kpop thingy.

and oh, every other kpopper wants to be a kpop blogger or a writer/photographer with a kpop news portal too. can you believe the number of new kpop news portals that have been appearing in the recent few months...? and that's not counting the individual kpop news bloggers or aggregators.

goodness, whilst i'm all for new media and social media marketing, i'm also worried that some of these sites may spoil the market.

passion is, of course, important, and one needs to be interested in kpop in order to run a kpop site well. but if you're in it coz you want the opportunities to attend press cons and want press passes, then you're in it for the wrong reason. also, it's important to ask yourself what skills you possess, and whether your site can provide something that the market is not getting from somewhere already. otherwise, why reinvent the wheel?

or more crudely, what makes you think you can do better than, say, AKP? or what makes you think you can blog better than, say, tiffany? (hee, hope she won't chew my head off for this... am just trying to illustrate and strengthen my point..)

anyway, back to the concert proper. now first things first, i ain't exactly a very big kpop fan (yes, and that's why i don't run a kpop-centric blog like tiffany does here, keke!), but i had brazenly and daringly taken up the offer of the media pass coz tiffany had said it's alright even if i were to blog from a non-kpop fan. it might be nice to hear some 'fresh' voice and hear what a non-kpop fan thinks about kpop after attending the concert.

let me put up some of the lovely pics that KANDACE had taken. this is just a small selection of the lovelies she's snapped last saturday night, and you can check 'em out on her blog, ya?

the opening act was FT ISLAND.

did you know that FT Island stands for Five Treasure Island? and yes, there're five of them, and their debut was back in 2007. i think most kpoppers here in singapore should be familiar with them since they had been here on three other occasions to meet the primadonnas. twice in 2009 and once this year, and then yea, last weekend. that's FOUR times, quite possibly one of the highest records by any kpop group, me thinks...

and oh, of course, the k-drama fans amongst you would probably have watched YAB, and know that the lead singer, LEE HONG KI, had acted as JEREMY in the (cult) drama. i watched it too (though i didn't finish... yea, i've this nasty habit of never, ever, finishing my k-dramas, not that i watch alot of them to begin with... aigoo!) but i did get to the part when he was singing amidst tears onboard his special bus. i loved loved loved his husky voice... and i've been told umpteen times that FT Island is fantabulous coz they're such a 'band music' type of group, and not your typical song-and-dance idol group.

naturally, i was soooo.... looking forward to my maiden experience of watching and listening to FT Island live. but but but... the sound system's awful! i could not hear the singing at all, and to be honest, it sounded all bad. yea, all the way from Bing Bing Bing, to I Hope, to Love Love Love and to Flower Rock.

yes, all four songs were just bad. i think the boys would have been been disappointed as well. i could see they were giving their all, not their fault that the sound's bad, i guess. not sure if it's me, but the sound did seem to get slightly better later, but the opening act.. sighs, i feel sorry for FT Island, especially since they're supposedly darned good live.

but hey, all's not lost, shall we ogle and drool over some nice-nice pics of hong ki then....? this was during the beginning of the concert when the five boys came on.

oh, i love love love the next two pics!

yes, he did... remove the jacket, i mean, keke! (nice job, kandace!)

and oh, here's a clip from RAZOR TV of them performing Flower Rock. fab song, btw!

a couple more pics from FT Island before i move on to the next act.

next up... The BOSS!

actually for this next group, their name's caused abit of confusion, or at least the english version of their name has confused some. basically they're known as Dae Guk Nam Ah (대국남아) which means "remaining superpower". since the beginning when they had made their debut (which was early 2010), fans had started to call them (incorrectly) D-NA, DNA, or even D-GNA!

later, they had come out officially to say their english name should be The BOSS, which stands for The Boys of Super Space. there are five of them...and although they kindda wanna be the nation's dongseungs, they're really more like the boy-version of DBSK. yes, these boys CAN sing.

let me say that again, these boys can really really sing! me likes (and i had only heard them for the first time last saturday, mind you!) they performed a total of three songs, A Bright World, Stumble Stumble (aka Stumbling) and Admiring Boy.

once again, a RAZOR TV clip of The BOSS performing Stumbling Stumbling (aka Staggering)

and now, since yours truly likes these talented boys and me thinks most of us ain't as familiar with them, i'll put up a bonus clip, keke!

next up... ZE:A!

actually ZE:A (제국의 아이들, also known as Children of Empire) is as 'rookie-new' as The BOSS, since this nine-member boy group too made their debut in jan 2010.

but i guess the local kpoppers ain't as unfamiliar with them since they were just here not too long ago. in fact, their name was added to the list of performers for the concert only after their fansign event in september. guess they 'tested waters' then and saw that the fans' response was very enthusiastic. i did hear of how the boys gave such excellent fan service during their september outing, hee!

like the BOSS, ZE:A too performed three tracks, namely Mazeltov, All Day Long and Bad Talk Sad. i'm already of ajumma-age, so i guess these (overly) young boys are just way too young for me. i just looked it up, the oldest amongst them 1988, and the youngest? 1992. O.U.C.H.

and this RAZOR TV clip is of ZE:A doing their Bad Sad Talk.

and... then Infinite (인피니트) ∞

a total of seven members, and guess what? their debut was even later than The BOSS and ZE:A! their debut showcase in south korea was actually during june this year! but this group had gained popularity even before debut coz they're groomed by Epik High's Tablo and Mithra Jin.

last saturday night, they had performed three songs just like the other 'hoobaes-groups', namely, Come back Again, Wings and She's Back.

and this is them, singing Come Back Again.

for that night, one of the most anticipated groups to perform was the contemporary R&B group, SHINee. this five-member group made its debut back in 2008 with a song that i loved even without listening to it, keke!

huh? what's that song? it's Noona Neomu Yeppeo (Replay) 누난 너무 예뻐... yea, Noona, You're Really Pretty!!

and yes, that's the group whose member is involved in the DATING HOOHA that's splashed across all internet tabloids and kpop news portals in the past week. incidentally, i thought WONDERRRGIRL wrote a rather nice (and rational) piece about it HERE. love her choice of title too.

back to SHINee last saturday night. strange... for someone who's not exactly familiar with Kpop, i actually could recognize and even bop along all of SHINee's songs. guess what it really means is that their songs get alot of airplay everywhere, so much so that i had been listening to their songs without even realizing it!

and yes, they did Replay, Ring Ding Dong, Lucifer and Hello. and yes, all very very very nice, keke! here's SHINee with Hello.

and then.... SNSD!

the only girl group for the night. and oh boy, they're really really really big here, there and everywhere. not just fanboys, mind you, there're lots of fangirls too!

don't believe me? check out how many people love them!

i've to be honest, they ain't my fave... though there really ain't much i wouldn't give to have their youth and those legs!

have i mentioned those legs already?! they just went on and on and on and on... miles and miles of legs! (tell me, tell me, where can i order legs like that?!!!)

okie, where was i before? ahhh... not my fave... but even though they ain't my fave, gotta admit that they're extremely fun to watch, and very entertaining and definitely major eye-candy! songs are very very catchy too! as with those SHINee songs, i could recognize the SNSD songs too! at this point, i'm beginning to be amazed of myself. i don't watch k-dramas, don't listen to kpop much, don't really watch korean variety shows, where on earth do i tune in to these korean songs then...???

anyway, picture time! i was turning into a green-eyed monster by the end of it all coz i was alternating between feeling envious of their figures and wanting to bash them up for making me look like the matronly and unappetizing ajumma with a beer belly! so don't say i didn't warn you, okie?

are you alright...? well, if you feel like smashing windows coz you too are going green with envy, just remember i didn't take the pictures, KANDACE did, keke! go after her, ya?

these droolworthy south korean 'barbies' performed a total of four songs, Genie, Oh!, Run Devil Run and GEE. and, will repost GENIE from RAZOR TV.

and... yes, i truly believe the organizers have saved the BESTest for last!

from my vantage point, i could see how the fans were drawn to the performances especially by SHINee and SNSD. more than half the house were on their feet, waving lightsticks, swaying and singing along. (too bad kpoppers in singapore don't seem too familiar with fanchants, something that i've always been incredibly amazed by with the korean fans...)

anyway, when it was BIG BANG's time on-stage, everyone... and i mean EVERYONE was on their feet! it's lovely seeing how everyone was enjoying themselves. it's also possible that the night was at its peak given that we had been entertained and enthralled for the past couple of hours by the time BB came on-stage.

i think despite their lack of loud costumes, they TOTALLY owed the stage. (btw i love TOP and Taeyang best, keke!) they were also the only group with ENCORE calls, and they performed a total of SEVEN(!) songs!! what did they sing? you weren't there?!! aigoo..! anyway, they performed GaraGara Go!, N...umber 1, Day by Day, Lie, Last Farewell, How Gee and Hands Up.

pics, pics, pics!

at the end of the concert, all the performing groups were invited back on-stage. in the background, a presentation show on the world's issues were being played to the song of We Are The World.

me thinks it's abit cheesy and definitely overdone... but hey, i guess it ain't easy to wrap up something like this nicely, ya? anyone has any brighter or better ideas to share?

meanwhile, i had a fantabulous night out though a tad lonely since last saturday night marked the first time i actually sat through a concert alone. but it was a good night out, nonetheless. gotta thank TIFFANY for her kindness. (and thanks for the pics, KANDACE!)

and... this is BB, standing in for tiff who's still in fish and chips land, keke!

[Guest Blogger] Frills & Fringes from Kpop Night Concert

2010-10-29T04:53:00.004+08:00

annyong peeps!

after reading tiffany's Hello Hello shout-out earlier, i kindda felt compelled to wave at everyone reading at her blog, especially at the part where she had mentioned my name.

yes, yes, this is BB who was soooooo lucky to have gotten one of the media passes from tiffany to attend what's quite possibly the biggest kpop concerts to ever reach our shores. yes, SEVEN exciting acts all in one night, and at the same place too! awesome would have been an understatement.

it's a pity tiffany who's been blogging all things korean for so long had to sit out this one coz she's away. but hey, she's got KANDACE and yours truly to help cover the event. hee, goes to show how competent SHE is, ya? needing two of us to do what she can normally do alone^^

mianhae, i haven't yet 'coughed' out the kpop night concert post, been literally swamped with work. and oh, i alternated between working and feeling guilty for not blogging yet. decided to ease my own conscience a teeny weeny bit by putting up what i'd call a pseudo-post!

yes, just giving you some frills and fringes from last saturday, wakakaka!

first things first, met up with the delightfully cute and bubbly (and oh, very well-spoken and well-mannered too!) kandace before picking up our media passes from the reception area.

along the way, we saw people queuing to enter the concert hall. oh by the way, i'd read some tweets that some fans who had bought tickets for the standng pits had queued overnight! guess they wanted to be really really really hugging the foot of the stage, keke!

aigoo, it was such a loooooong walk to the reception area to collect our media passes!

along the way, we must have passed something like five to six washrooms? and yup, practically all had snaking queues. guess with some 8,000 peeps attending the concert, most people wanted to make sure they cleared their bladders first (sorry, if you're eating or doing something nice and really really refined whilst reading this^^)

ZZANG...!! our passes and tickets!

incidentally the organizer PROOF LABEL had also thoughtfully set up a gift collection centre at the reception area. as we were waiting for our media passes, we saw fans popping by to drop gifts for their fave idols. can you see those pink(!) bags behind the counter? yea, each gift was clearly labelled with the idol groups' names.

but but but... the quick thinking and DSLR-wielding kandace decided to cajole the staff into exchanging her media pass for a photographer pass. you see, that gal loves to shoot. pictures, that is.

we checked out our respective 'positions' after picking up our media passes.

you know, this kpop night concert is really a wee bit like the DREAM CONCERT that's held in may every year in korea, where some of the most popular artists would come together and perform. but it's done quite differently in korea, since they would demarcate sections for the respective fanclubs.

as you all know, each kpop artist or group has his/her/their own fanclub colour. actually i believe they call it the balloon colour in korea, since balloons are very commonly used as support props during performances. so it's really nice during dream concert to see the fans banding together to show support for their fave stars. it kindda sends goosebumps (the good kind) up my spine when i see sea of green, sea of red, of pink, of... it's very touching, and totally lovely to watch!

for dream concert, the capacity's much bigger and they would reserve the upper sections (these are the 'worse-off' seats in terms of proximity to the stage) for the fanclubs. if you want better seats that are nearer the stage, then you will have to buy your own tickets individually from Gmarket and not be able to sit with the fanclubs. i feel it's a rather good system as it allows members of the public (or peeps who like kpop in general but may not have a fave) to attend the concert and get good seats, and it still allows for fanclubs to show unity for their stars. something to learn there...? shrugs, maybe...

anyway, when we were at the reception area, we saw some VIPs and SONEs. (for the uninitiated, big bang fans are called VIPs and SNSD fans are SONEs)

it was great to see the VIPs with their royal yellow crown lightsticks and the SONEs with the (mighty cool!) pink light sabers! if only there're more fans willing to surface to show more visible support. me thinks it adds lots of fun and colours to a concert this way...

what's really interesting is how the VIPs and SONEs are standing side by side for a photo opportunity! yes, TOGETHER!

think it was the organizer who had tried to arrange this in order to take a nice-nice picture showing our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr GEORGE YEO with the fans. yup, yup, he had graced the occasion with his presence!

wanna know how big the turnout was last saturday at the expo? here are some pics of the crowd inside the hall.

were you there too? were you standing or sitting?

tell me, tell me, tell me, did you enjoy yourselves?

will be back really really really soon for a real concert report. this is BB standing in for tiffany who's in fish & chips land.

Hello hello

2010-10-28T16:59:00.003+08:00

From all accounts, the K Pop concert was a great success. Big Bang & SNSD lived up to their expectation & the hosts were great. I wish I was there. I would have loved to watch it. But I was battling the rather cold & wet English weather. But not to worry, bb & Kanndace were there & they will give the full report here soon complete with photos. I saw a photo of Taeyang & it was fantastic.

I'd like to thank the 2 girls for helping me to cover the event whilst I was away despite their busy schedule. And I would also like to thank Prooflabel for being so helpful to me. But next time, can you hold your events when I'm in town? ^^

See you all next week.

Tiffany in Fish &. Chips land

JYJ in Singapore- Press conference

2010-10-20T00:34:00.010+08:00

JYJ was only in Singapore for less than 24 hours and looked how much dust they kicked up. Good thing there wasn't any haze on Saturday or I think there would have been more people would be hot under the collar.

The press conference was supposed to be 4.30pm but I received an urgent email from Quest on 16th October at 2.15 in the morning saying that the press conference has been changed to 4pm. Sharp! oh well. Half an hour early is ok. I found out much later the boys had changed their rehearsal time from before the press conference to after the press conference. Bad move....

Anyway. I 'know' Junsu because I had covered Zuno's event in May. But Yoochun caught my eyes. Well, having a thick black scarf, with long sleeve sweater in super hot Singapore probably does stand out. ^^ No seriously, it was because he was the only one who was smiling and seemed actually relaxed.

Junsu and Jaejoong didn't seemed very happy or perhaps they were tired. I'm not sure. Whatever it was, they didn't smile much. But I must say Jaejoong still quite cute lah.

There was a little drama even before the actual press conference started because it was announced that media would not be allowed to ask any questions! Questions 'prepared' by media earlier would be presented instead. Of course, the media was up in arms, because, well, it's quite silly to have a press conference if the media was not allowed to ask any questions. I guess JYJ's management did not want any awkward and sensitive questions asked about SME and the lawsuit. However, I think the boys should be confident and grown up eenough to answer or not answer any potentially sensitive and dangerous questions. And I was proved right later on. Sort of..

So back to the 'prepared' questions. You can check it out here or just watch the clip below. This is part 1 of the press conference.

Watch Junsu at about 1.44m when he laughed. He really looked like a little boy. The boys seemed a little reluctant to answer the questions, pushing the mike to each other. But again, it could be due to fatique. However it does appear that the 3 of them share a certain closeness. Micky Yoochun surpsied me with his fairly fluent English. Perhaps he should have answered more and rely less on the translator?

The PR for JYJ then announced that the management had approved and the boys would take 5 questions from the media. Unfortunately the first question was indirectly associated with DBSK. There was a 15 seconds silence from the boys before Junsu finally picked up the mike to answer. Personally, whilst the question asked was sensitive because it was related to DBSK, I felt that it was also a difficult question to answer. I mean, how do you answer the politically fireloaded question -'is it more lonely with just 3 of you or more enjoyable?'

But Junsu did well and answered diplomatically. Perhaps they should learn to answer more of such questions instead of avoiding them? It may fuel less sensational stories. Afterall, Jay Park, who also left under much controversial terms answered all questions during the press conference (even though the media was warned to stick to questions related to his showcase only). But then again that's just my personal opinion.

So here's Part 2 of the press conference. The clip is below.

But part 2 was also more light hearted especially with regards to Yoochun's drama and the album sales. I couldn't quite catch which character Yoochun thought Jaejoong could be. Anyone care to enlighten me? And the translator was tripping over the figures and the pre-orders part. I think the question may have been asked by a fan or one of the forum. ^^

The press conference ended very, very quickly. It was only about 20 minutes or so and then they went for the exclusive group interviews. But I heard later there was some drama with that too.

Anyway, by the time the whole thing ended, it was about 5.35pm or so. So like I said in my last post, everything was just too rushed and not enough time.

Hmm... I think I may watch 'Sungkyunkwan Scandal' afterall...just because I found Yoochun really charming at the press conference. Haha! yes, I'm shallow.