2025 Blog

2025 Blog

This year goes really quickly, it’s now end of December.  Nothing much has happened this year, my Essay got graded. It was fine under the circumstances.  Oh yes, I got Bell’s Palsy in August.  I looked really disfigured.  We were on a holiday in Nice and I had no smile in the beach in Antibes. I had to stretch the left side of my face.  I now understand what steroids are like, the side effects are debilitating.  I had to be off work for more than a month, although half was annual leave. Work was so stressful that it made me disfigured. 

But then I was introduced to Autumn Concerto, it was the result of watching the F4 reunited  in July and I got curious about Vaness Wu.  It made waiting in A and E tolerable.  I was in tears, waiting for hours, eager to join the Pain Study Day, but I got wifi on my phone and I got hooked I totally love this Taiwanese drama.  Set in 2009, the phones look dated but the feels  are timeless.  Months later, I still watch it again and again. There are dramas that we like and we keep on watching and this is it.  It is just like a loop. When I don’t feel like watching anything else, I view this drama.  

My child is getting older, more independent now.  She reads books, I totally adore those friends from school who were the catalyst to her reading.  Read more, do Maths and Science and be happy.  

On life and offspring

 For my daughter’s update, she lost her phone.  The insurance has not replaced it yet but the trauma for a young child. She needs her phone definitely.  Twelve is an age of wonder and she needs the data box of a more modern phone.   

My daughter has lost her Piano and Musical Theory teacher this year.  We did not even know she was sick.  We love Nadia. It was hard to replace Nadia on Saturdays but Natalya was kind enough to include us during a late evening class on a weekday and she goes to our house rather than us going to her place.  

My wish is for my daughter to practice more Piano and definitely more Violin.  Play more in Public or play more in Church.  Do the dances or ballet I know she is capable of performing.  Orchestra clashes with football this term. She has to give up football.  Getting into the orchestra takes precedence and it’s a challenge to join more extra-curricular activities as academics are hard enough for children.  I’m so relieved Maths is a strong subject. But it needs to be stronger.  Maths is the precursor to all the Sciences.  Science and maths are the key to life.  I love Geography and History.  I pray she would appreciate History.  She does not like it at the moment. But in time, I’m hoping.  She is studying Latin, Italian and French.   Have this belief in Latin, Chi. And study harder.  

As for me, I’m hoping to eat healthy and move more, do more exercise, dance more. Sometimes there is no motivation to do anything.  I wake up so early for work.  My daughter not needing me as much has taken its toll with the Step count.  I have not done as many Sick Days, despite the weather.  But all’s well.

It’s just a Click

 It’s the last day of the year.  I could have written this blog earlier but I thought it would be hard to sign in, compose the thoughts and construct the sentences.   But at least I made it rather than skip 2024 altogether. 

I haven’t seen much of C-dramas this year, my all time favourite is still Falling into your Smile, an idol drama about E-sports and the lives and romance of highly-talented and gorgeous gamers.  Cheng Xiao, the lead in Falling into your Smile does not do much dramas.  I could not watch her in anything except maybe Lie to Love and the premise of that series is that of  suspense and incredulity.  Like Falling into your Smile, the drama was released way back in 2021.  She mostly appears in Variety Shows. I really enjoy watching her in dancing variety shows rather than reality competitions.  I only get snippets through Twitter (now X) but you get the gist.  Xu Kai (Falling into your Smile) and Luo Yun Xi (Lie to Love), her former leading men, are so in-demand, as I gaze through their works on Viki.   I like Cheng Xiao in acting and dramas.  But other actresses have a lot of leading acting works like Zhao Lusi and Bai Lu.  I have seen their dramas prior to bingeing Falling into Your Smile. Yet I would rather watch Cheng Xiao acting works. 

Cheng Xiao’s strength is really dancing.  She is simply phenomenal when she moves to the music.  Dance with Ten again, Cheng Xiao.  In Fangs of Fortune, released this year,  she plays second lead.  It’s still acting but  I don’t like costume dramas. But people like it.  Anyway, I re-watch Falling into your Smile again and again.

Park Shin-hye meanwhile should have won the Daesang in SBS Drama Awards.  Jang Nara got the trophy in portraying a lawyer. Jang Nara’s  series had the highest ratings for the year.  You have to abide by the numbers and seniority.  The Judge from Hell though is a terrific show, the first time in history I was sat on a couch, eyes glued to the flatscreen with the hubby, not just in  Kdrama but first subtitled series.   I don’t like talk of the town Squid Game.  But we enjoyed the blood and gore of The Judge from Hell and its central character.  Hope Park Shin-hye wins more awards for this role. Really.  

I also enjoyed Doctor Slump.  I mean Park Hyung-sik kissing Park Shin-hye, playing top students then put-upon doctors?  Of course, it would work.  Ten years since The Heirs, every one moves forward although I still do not like Kim Ji won.  Queen of Tears be damned but makjang always works on the audience.  I can’t like the antagonist from The Heirs, the antagonist of Cha Eun sang.

Do co-stars become friends?   I always wonder Judy Ann Santos became friends with Gladys Reyes.  But not during the quest for the Diary, only at the tail-end of  the tearjerker.  We cannot force friendships but Park Shin hye seems like a nice person with her demeanour. Birthday cake surprise and all on the set of Heirs, PSH was not able to become friends with KJW.  You cannot force friendships.  But she became close to Lee Sung kyung, her antagonist from Doctors. Even though the star of  Doctor Romantic 2 was not at Park Shin hye’s wedding but did a cameo on Doctor Slump. 

Speaking of awards, Judy Ann won for Espantaho in MMFF ‘24.  Congratulations!  I don’t know how to see Espantaho.  Maybe Netflix?  Amazon Prime?  I was really lucky, I caught Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes in Shepherd’s Bush on a rainy January in 2019.  I would not be as lucky this time. Judy Ann  gets a lot of flak from rival or younger fan groups.  But as long as the jurors like you and endorsement deals  keeps on coming,  directors want to work with you, it’s the dream. 

After a snooze

 Actually I could not remember my password for this page.  Until now, I still have not figured it out. I was really quiet in Instagram but I posted a story maybe two months ago or more or less.  Nothing has changed,  I rest after work.  My husband watches a lot of football.  

For Year 6, my daughter gave up her spot in the Choir for Girl’s Football.  Initially, it made me tearful. Her voice needs training.  But she is amazing.  She could kick with her left foot, commit to headers and just run.  She won an Individual Trophy for Football at the end of the Year.  She became a Spelling Bee Champion. She is starting Secondary School on Tuesday.  We still have to trial how to  manoeuvre traffic from her school to weekday Violin Lessons.  While Ballet on a different weekday starts way after school and is walking distance from our house, so there is leeway to prepare.  Then for her Piano and Musical Theory, Saturday is a no-conflict day, unless I have to work. At this point, she is under the covers, seeking comfort in Calpol. We were in Seville last week with 42 degree temperatures under the intense heat of the sun and still 42 degrees even after sunset.  Coming back to 12 degrees in England, playing with Kiu and Breckin in the garden has taken a toll on her body. 

At 11, some even younger in Primary School, a few kids have their mobile phones. Phones are great for communication. Hope my daughter uses it responsbly and not text too much about a whole load of nothing. 

Wow, a year!

Being so overwhelmed the past year with all the errands, mandatory training, my daughter’s challenges in music and academics plus trying to live with the pandemic? I find the daily manoeuvres daunting.  To think, we work less days now for those of us who do shifts. 

During the past year, Park Shin-hye got married and gave birth.  She could have accepted acting projects in 2021 but she opted to do nothing except a few adverts ( golf and real estate in Busan) and planned her pregnancy and wedding.  We all need our personal space, really.  After giving birth and staying in post partum center which is a place for mothers to go after giving birth. Are post-partum facilities only a Korean concept? I don’t see her endorsing any brands any more such as Swarovski or the likes. She totally just rested, not doing any work. Well, hope she enjoys this kind of life, this break from the spotlight. Would still find the passion to go back to acting or being in a set? 

I know my voyeuristic attention to a few celebrities may be a bit vacuous. As fans we are their meal tickets and we are fascinated by the images they project.   Same as my friends in social media, in my eyes they are in the same level as the celebrities these days.  As we only hear from them through their social media pages, could they still be called friends?  They have such well-curated pages I could never live up to their aesthetic. 

Like I could never live up to the prolific posts of any of my friends, I tend to shy away from social media.  Even in writing, I could not keep up with the updates.  Maybe it’s all due to the easy access to viewing shows and videos on the hoof. But it keeps the sanity in such humdrum existence. 

From my end

Park Shin-hye has not done any acting since her last series Sisyphus the Myth (I’ve written this prior to her wedding and pregnancy announcement) wrapped up production in early December 2020.  With Squid Game lighting up Netflix in the US, the UK and the world and so many dramas being shown, made and announced, her absence from any K-production is heartbreaking to her fans. I don’t watch Kdramas anymore. Even before I’ve heard of the racist incident involving the only Filipino actor in Squid Game but I reckon it was my rewatch of that episode in Hello Counselor  where Jung Yong-hwa was a guest and one of the stories was a guy who was being treated so lowly by his fellow Koreans for looking like a Filipino. Anyway, I only watch Korean shows these days if Park Shin-hye is a cast member.  I don’t follow Kpop but I enjoy dancing to the tunes. 

Korean works such as #Alive and Space Sweepers made it to the Top Ten in the UK but none made it to number one on the streaming service like Squid Game.  My husband likes watching it again and again.  I’m not really fond of this type of genre.  Its very essence doesn’t strike a chord with my free time.  But that is me.  All others enjoy this kind of pursuit.  Sometimes I wonder if it is popular amongst my husband’s friends because they like watching East Asians engaged in this killing competition?  Are they like those men in suits in the series looking through the games via a monitor ?  Or was it through a window?  I couldn’t really decipher, I just passed by during the penultimate episode. 

The series catapulted its stars to the sky, the female lead is now the hype of social media, amassing followers to rival Ariana Grande.  Let’s see her next pursuits, would she continue to be hot for the years to come? 

Hiatus

It has been almost a year since I have been writing that I have forgotten how it feels to write in a blog. Well, the scourge of the Pandemic is an ever -pressing concern in our lives. As an introvert, I like the staying home bit but as a front liner, I was never given a chance to stay home. I’m right in the middle of “saving lives, trying to stay alive” crew. There was and there is no reprieve, you try to be sick for feeling symptoms of the virus and you get derision and a lengthy interrogation process by the powers that be in my work universe.  

I don’t think I will ever get away with taking time off for Stress. Or working from home when there are call bells to answer at the actual site. Despite the vaccines, there are variants out there lurking and ready to claim thousands of human lives. People should be wary of huge gatherings. 

Lockdown gives space. There is far less traffic in the busiest roads and it saves me from confrontation with highly-paid class acts in the Tube on day shifts. Sir, whatever you say, it’s still not prudent to take that seat beside me. I’ve wrapped up dead bodies in full PPE due to Covid.  

Should we still social distance? It’s such a double standard since people love gatherings. There is no social distance in parties. December was lockdown month, yet people were dressed to the nines for parties.  Cases ballooned in January, cold weather and viruses, eh?  It’s summer now, but there it seems the most dreadful of times. 

Pandemic or no pandemic, we are still busy at work, just made more complicated by the ever threat of this health emergency.  At least there was a vaccine to at least minimise symptoms or prevent us from succumbing to the virus’ worst effects.  For now, let’s pray there are no more waves and there is a cure for the deadliest of variants.

‘Twas a Hot Day

I don’t know anything about the new normal. Everyday there are changes to routines and policies at work that we do not know anything anymore. Masks are mandatory in all corners of the workplace. The general public should be wearing masks really, anywhere they go, social distancing or not. During the lockdown, only joggers and dog walkers plus those who work with the police headquarters walks around our residential street (minus social distancing). But these days with everybody back to work (Is everybody back to work?) and with school about to start, we have to ask, why do a few believe everything is back to normal? 

However the threat is still there. There is no vaccine, no treatment yet for Covid-19. There is spike here and there, in South Korea, in Spain and just anywhere. We shouldn’t be attending large gatherings including family reunions and the likes, or even go to pubs. But humans are social creatures. They like having their interactions. They cherish being with other humans. They like the gossip and noise. In the solemnity of calm and quiet, they get bored. 

Perhaps I should be grateful that there is still no live audience for sports events. Sports losing money means our household saves a bit. Stadium sports can only be enjoyed through the magic of television. Tottenham Hotspur’s new ground is the best I have ever experienced, dwarfing Wembley Stadium and North Greenwich Arena when they were completely new (those were the days).  But it was empty when the last season resumed and it’s going to be not even near capacity when the new season commences. I mean let’s see, how is the new lifestyle going to work out. But I would love to watch Spurs live again. 

I just hope none of us becomes sick, not even a little fever nor a little cough this winter. Let’s not get out much, except for essential travel? School would be a nightmare for me, all those mothers and their Yakkity yaks. Plus just based on social media photos of my friends and colleagues, do people actually think there is still a Pandemic? 

to watch or not to watch

There are a few K-dramas I have viewed that were quite chill.  I was into Kong Hyo-jin (she prefers it spelled with a K) for a while after I watched  and re-watched It’s Ok, That’s Love.  So I went through the gamut of her work, Don’t Dare to Dream, Producers, Master’s Sun and Greatest Love.  She does a lot of romcoms, they’re quite light. Something to wallow into in times when you want to de-stress.  KHJ was quite stylish when she dropped by London as seen in her instagram two years ago.  Then she unfollowed Park Shin-hye on her insta (while Memories of the Alhambra was still on air or right after?)  and I lost interest in her dramas including my constant rewatch of It’s Ok, That’s Love (some good writing therer from Noh Hee Kyung).  But I still follow her on that social media platform, I just do not take a peek at her account anymore nor watch her latest series on Netflix. 

Then there is  the hardworking Jang Nara in the remake of Fated to Love You/You are my Destiny and One More Happy Ending, they are very enjoyable dramas.  She has a series every single year, so there are loads of choices, it depends on the genre and story. I’ve seen Seo Hyun-jin in Temperature of Love.  It’s  good, although I haven’t done any rewatch in full It’s all about gourmet cooking and scriptwriting but the break- up in the middle ( or is it near the end?) to keep the story going, is a breaking ball. 

As you can see, I’m from the school of si Nura, si Velma; Maricel, Sharon, etc., who doesn’t care much  or swoon after male leads.  Stan is the operative word these days (I didn’t hear this word when I was  writing for the school paper).  So I stan the nominees for the Best Actress award, as in the Filipino penchant for their movie aueens — from Amalia to Judy Ann.  I’m into that fandom. In celluloid, smart tv or smartphone, I want to watch empowered women as central characters or characters portrayed by actresses with a whole lot of charisma. 

But in Kdrama or in life, men usually gets the top-billing.  Women are just there for decoration.  I couldn’t say It shouldn’t be like that because for some, drooling over Lee Min-ho or Lee Jong Suk is their alternate reality.  Their escape from the dreariness of life. Or these days, their escape from the dreariness and hardship of a pandemic. 

Lockdown for Now

This is the time of war. Lockdown is a cruel phase in the battle against Covid-19. But thank goodness, my small nuclear family have no symptoms. I might have one cough when talking on the phone or writing on the bed board and I would get called out by a consultant doctor or a well-meaning friend. “Is that a cough?” they would query. But we all have these crazy paranoia and sometimes fear take over. There is no vaccine. There is no cure for Covid-19. Words such as desaturation and low blood pressure bring such trepidation. It’s a nasty pestilence, fatal to the weak leading to a shortage of body bags. I know I’m being morbid but it’s not like measles nor chicken pox where there is an inherent natural immunity once afflicted. It is oh so cruel to the lungs. It might have hit you already, you recovered and it will hit you again. 

We are terribly exposed at work. The battle for safe Personal Effective Equipment is real. The deaths of front liners; of doctors, nurses, health care assistants, porters, bus drivers particularly hurt not only because they are colleagues but the powers that be ignore the high-viral load associated with any positive and suspected patients. Please, protect people and front liners from death. 

South Korea has these massive and rampant testing and contact tracing that is  keeping the figures down whether infection or death rates. Or so the reports say. Germany as well have the capacity to test more people. Here in London, as I observe so far, you only get tested once you are admitted to a hospital and on the brink. Even if you self-isolate, you don’t get tested unless you are top of the pyramid in the hierarchy of humans. 

Social distancing, as in not seeing people, is bad for business and bad for mental health. Imagine not seeing friends and family and not going to McDonalds or a theme park? Well, there are no McDonald’s, theme parks and restaurants or clothes shops as they are now closed. Entertainment is staying home. The world works at home. School is all a series of computer exercises and homework. My husband is correct, I won’t have the time and energy for home school as we both work on the battlefield. I’m grateful for the key worker incentive. Because unlike those who work at home, us from the lower tier, have to go to work (and take the tube at my end) and face this cruel infection face to face with flimsy protection. So I couldn’t do much in terms of homework and learning from home bits for my seven-year old. No energy on day offs. None at all. I’m so tired. This would be my classic refrain. 

Memories of the Alhambra

A year ago today I was engrossed in my first live K drama series starring of course, Park Shin-hye and it opened up to a large troll following of female stars. Others are so male-centric in their approach to watching shows that it makes me ponder the motivations in their lives. 

The first few episodes of Memories of the Alhambra is set in Granada in Spain. Prior to watching MOTA, I sat through episodes after episodes of Hyde, Jekyll, Me and Secret Garden. Did I enjoy them? There were moments of wavering emotions. Both series are a hard sell for my acquired taste, makes me wonder why drama writers think those plots are good for the soul. Yes, I don’t think the element of body swapping is kind of passé even at the start of the last decade. 

MOTA itself is a hard re-watch. As I watch through Netflix and engage in My Drama List conversations to defend the Park Shin-hye character Jung Hee-joo and Park Shin-hye herself, I could not embrace the fact that trolls are trolls, and there are certain forums I should just avoid. Why watch Park Shin-hye if you don’t like her at all? Oh, they are fans of Hyun Bin and he is ever so dreamy. I swear the guy sitting opposite me on the tube on a random day was far better looking than him and he doesn’t have to sing A Star is Born’s “Shallow” on repeat. 

MOTA makes viewers think and come up with theories on dungeons and viruses and why technology is so cool. But it also doesn’t make sense. Sci-Fi doesn’t usually makes sense. But I enjoy the love angle in this drama. Those who have seen Heartstring or You’ve Fallen For Me would in all likelihood say, this is Park Sin-hye’s best kiss. I may not have binge-watch the entire 16-episode arc after the series finished its run but Episode 11 is hot, that it is the only episode I watch on the MOTA timeline. They should definitely star opposite each other

Now Hyun Bin’s has another Netflix drama corrupting my page on Netflix. I would not ever watch. But why could not Park Shin-hye star in another drama? Or Flower Boys Next Door to stream in Netflix or have her film Call and Alone break box office records and win awards? It is of course possible

updates

Before I will give my thoughts on Memories of the Alhambra, the first Kdrama I followed in real time.  I’ll talk about my diary first. It has been a while since I’ve been writing about myself.  Nothing’s changed really, I remain deeply an introvert, not really going out much, unless it’s an invite to a kid’s birthday party. I still hyperventilate whenever I bring Chichi (my nickname for my daughter, I’m the only person who calls her Chichi) to ballet class and during school runs.  Ah, those parents and their judgments and arrogance. 

After my surgery last year, my Bradford Score has improved.  I haven’t been writing. I haven’t been reading or tidying up the house. All I seem to do is watch Kdramas or these days, Chinese Dramas and a bit of Japanese Dramas. As I observe the Far East lenses, they seem to be affluent in Asia, at least in the Chinese and Japanese dramas I am watching. They have these amazingly high-tech gadgets at home and talking, touch screen computers, facial recognition with doors. 

As it’s such a mess in my literal surroundings, I need to breathe in, simmer down.  In the larger scale, health is wealth.  I have to take care of my health as I grow older.  My hypertension is such a killer.  I view life with trepidation when it comes to health.  Career and stuff are not the most vital thing in perspective (a loser’s mantra, but really, no one is a loser in this world).  Working with the salt of the  earth are what keeps us growing as a human being.   At my age, I should be chilled.  I know sometimes, it gets really annoying but what could we do about the condescending attitude of the powers-that-be’s, the holier than thou’s. 

Plus, too much gossip sullies perspectives.  I try to to avoid social media, a lot less Facebook. Instagram is helpful when it comes to celebrities, those who share anyway. No posts from me. Yet? But for those who prefer life in private, they don’t update as much, they prefer their publicity and promotions in hashtags. For C-ent, (imagine that, me following C-ent when I depend on subtitles), there’s Weibo, which is being translated for Twitter users by very kind souls.  I follow K-ent  and most news through Twitter. Love Twitter for the news and the translation.

Flower Boy Next Door

Now here comes my favourite Park Shin-hye series. The only downside to this drama is that I’ve not seen this tale since Drama Fever  ceased service in October 2018.  It’s also called My Cute Guys.  Cute as in small (you know not as tall as Lee Min-ho) or cute as in good-looking?  But then there is so-called good looks and then there is charm or magnetic appeal.  

Flower Boy Next Door also seem a superficial label to attach to a drama that tackles the effects and repercussions of bullying and reclusion.  Despite being a  frugal, baggage-carrying recluse, Go Dok-mi (PSH) is an interesting character.  She works at home as a copy writer, have her groceries delivered and limits her interactions with people. It took the efforts of an hyperactive extrovert of a love interest for this young lass to explore the outside world.  Yoon Shi-yoon as Enrique, the main cute guy and flower boy is too animated for comfort.  He talks, talks and talks.  The times he’s quiet and serious are the moments I seriously crave. 

Enrique is a genius game designer.  Dok-mi is a writer.  He has the ability to bring her out of her shell and make her interact with people.  He could see the hidden beauty underneath the layers of winter clothing. 

I couldn’t recall the conflicts anymore since it has been so long since I’ve seen this drama.  Was it the jealous high school best friend, the trigger for the forlorn reclusion?  What was the glitch of the 

second lead, the next door neighbour, ably portrayed by Kim Ji-hoon?  This is my first introduction to Go Kyung-pyo (the second lead sidekick), who I’m so impressed with in Dare to Dream or Jealousy Incarnate, a melodrama that really tugs on the emotions.  

Flower Boy Next Door may not pull me as much as say, Heirs or Pinocchio or even Heartstrings.  But there was a bit of poetry in motion, in dialogues and conversations, in the coming of age of young people in their twenties, in simply living life.  I would have loved not to be a breadwinner in those days. I’m going to watch this again.  Maybe pray for Netflix UK to add this series to their massive list or buy the DVD?  Are DVD’s still in vogue in the age of streaming? 

You're Beautiful kdrama

I reckon I might have seen Flower Boys Next Door before You're Beautiful or He's Handsome, or What a Handsome Man You Are, or Minamisineyo. Translations are tricky.  Languages are hard to maneuver. Anyhow, You're Beautiful (2009) is a story of a trainee nun pretending to be her twin brother for a month (who flew to America to repair a botched plastic surgery) and join one of the top boy bands or Kpop group in the land.  I'll say the continent of Asia.  Or as the group's leader Hwang Tae Kyung says it, "I'm quite known, " the psychology of idolatry for Kpop idols,  go figure.

The central character is played by Park Shin Hye as Go Minam but the top billing is Jang Geun Suk as Hwang Tae Kyung.  Th drama was first shown 10 years ago in 2009 and it's quite dated. This drama was before the era of super smart phones.  The other members of the group are Jung Yong Hwa (CN Blue) as Kang Shinwoo and Lee Hongki (FT Island) as Jeremy. This is a love square.  They all fall for the accident-prone, total klutz, all-naive, fully-innocent Go Minam (as her brother) or Go Mineo (her real name).  Despite her naïveté, the title character is sweet and endearing and despite having the short hair, she's so beautiful, not a single pore, so luminous,  face as clear as a newborn baby's bottom.  One look at the character would tell you she's a girl so really, this makes this into a fantasy drama.  She talks like a girl. Was her voice a few decibels lower?  Most of her scenes are with people who knows she's a girl - Manager Ma, the stylist, Kang Shinwoo, Hwang Tae Kyung, the actress Yoo He-yi.  So the actress doesn't need to be full-on male. 

Logic would also tell you that Kang Shinwoo, the sweet and nice, would be chosen over the jerk, all hang-ups, allergic to seashells, Hwang Tae Kyung.  But maybe, the character wasn't written with enough backbone, so the big jerk gets the girl and shouldn't there have been a twist? Ah, I get it the twist come in the form of Heartstrings, two-years later while Lee Hongki has this enduring friendship with Park Shin-hye that it's so wonderful to see on instagram. 

This is very light, very cute and so floppy.  I like the aura of the square.  I like the dorm.  If that's my dorm at 19, I'll study well.  The antagonist comes in the form of Uee as Yoo He-yi. I have a few gripes about her features, the actress, not the character and she has a few lead credits to her name now. But once I see a person play antagonist first, I could never reconcile them as the downtrodden leads next time. Lee Sung Kyung in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Book Jo? Kim Ji Won in Descendants of the Sun? All I could remember is the fury in their characters' eyes darting towards their jealousy of the Park Shin-hye role as Yoo Hye-Jung and Cha Eun-sang, respectively. Then what if the first Park Shin-hye drama I saw was The Prince Hours, would I change my perception? But wasn't she the young Choi Jae Woo in Stairway To Heaven and was slapped a hundred times by the stepmother? I reckon she was so lovable as an antagonist that is why she scaled heights while her co-stars in The Prince Hours, are "da who?"

You're Beautiful is full of this dramatisation of "what if," scenarios, of dreams, of imaginations, of origins, even plots for music video settings.  It's handled with a light touch but I still find them distracting. Maybe except for Jeremy's origin as an English guy, a great talking point for the fans within the drama and during the Lee Hongki and Jung Yong Hwa concert in Tokyo in 2017.  

But eventually, this drama is a showcase of the many talents of its cast;  Jang Geun Suk plays the guitar and piano, Jung Yong Hwa plays almost all instruments, Lee Hongki learned to play  the drums for this project but he's got this awesome, amazing vocal range.  Park Shin-Hye plays the keyboard here but we all know she plays the guitar like in Memories of Alhambra and learned the gayageum through Heartstrings.  Plus they all could sing. I love all the songs here.  In Park Shin-hye's case, she's also an amazing dancer.

Their weaknesses probably is in acting but in the case of singers or Kpop idols branching into becoming actors (once the group disbands), the more acting projects you do, the more ways for your acting to improve. Park Shin-hye gets so much hate for her acting because she could cry on cue and her haters think she's one-note and all she could do is cry.  They would like to believe that she plays the same character over and over in all her projects. As if those haters could act themselves.   It's actually hard to cry on stage, in-front of the camera and to generate emotions.  I did acting workshops in my teens (literally a million years ago), I did well but the others were struggling (they didn't have my natural talent, burn!).  The likes of Janice De Belen and Judy Ann Santos were honed by abusive antagonists in their soap operas as kids, so it will always be easy for them. 

In the case of Park Shin-hye, the most-followed actress on Viki, (Lee Jong Suk and Lee Min Ho are 1 and 2 respectively, she's number 3, overall, in my calculations), her haters, are just that pure, unadulterated, trolls.  They're so in-love with the male idols and male actors.  Consciously, they think Cha Eun Sang is stealing their Lee Min Ho or how dare Cho In Ha let Lee Jong Suk (not the character Gi Ha Myeong) kiss her in Pinocchio.  But I wouldn't watch The Heirs (The Inheritors) or Pinocchio on repeat if Park Shin-hye was not a cast member. 

In this age of #me too movement,  I still wouldn't deprive connoisseurs of having male crushes.  They didn't, they couldn't get their own happy ending? So they drool over Jang Geun Suk, Jung Yong Hwa and with Game of Thrones being so popular, Kit Harrington.  They follow actors with different leading ladies. I couldn't watch Lee Jong Suk in anything other than Pinocchio.  Maybe if he'll be paired again with Park Shin-hye.  

I'm watching You're Beautiful again, on Netflix.  Netflix cuts a lot of scenes.  The Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer scene is cut. They also cut the Winter Olympic screen scene on Pinocchio. So I revert to Viki for the missing scenes. I have nothing else to watch. Kong Hyong-Jin, unfollowed Park Shin-hye on instagram, so I don't repeat her dramas anymore.  But I like It's Ok, That's Love, especially the discussion on schizophrenia.  Park Shin-hye should do a drama with Noh Hee-Kyung as writer.  That would be  cool as this writer usually give her female leads depth and substance. 

 

Doctors / Doctor Crush

I was thinking of writing about Doctors or Doctor Crush before I have seen Memories of the Alhambra. Then I got trapped following the cliffhangers of MOA (Memories of the Alhambra) and just like everything else about writing and social media, every aspect gets delayed. 

There’s not a lot to comment about Doctors, it’s very feel-good show while Memories of the Alhambra is way darker, fantasy “oh crap” kind of thing. But since I’ve already seen various repeats of Doctors even before MOA finished filming in Spain, I say let’s reminisce about the rags to riches character and story of Dr. Yoo Hye-jung. 

Literally, Park Shin-hye kicks ass in this drama. She is so adept in her action scenes defending herself from the bullies of her youth and the bad guys in her professional life. Yoo Hye-jung emerges from the scars and trauma of her rebellious childhood and adolescence, a star. She is shaped, as we all are, by her upbringing. But rather than settling for mediocrity, she fought off adversity and harnessed her high IQ to become a neurosurgeon. She was far from a good student. She was removed from her previous high school before being taken-in by her paternal (I think so) grandmother and given unconditional support. 

In her new school, she met Hong Ji Hong, (Kim Rae Won) her homeroom teacher, a medical doctor (the word “doctor” always sound cool, notwithstanding the hard work it entails) and new friends and classmates, Jin See Woo (Lee Sung Kyung) and Cheon Soon Hee (Moon J In). Jin See Woo played is the definition of the alpha student, the beauty and brains who does well in school and top all the exams as the daughter and 

granddaughter of physicians. See Woo and Hye Jung initially are friends, it was See Woo who lent her notes and gave her pointers for the midterm exams, as Hye Jung professed that she has not done any studying in her school life. But just as it should be in feel-good dramas, Hye Jung topped the Maths exams instead of See Woo and the latter girl definitely didn’t take it lightly. As an antagonist, what she did next was a bit immature. Antagonists could never handle defeat in any drama. A fire, a stint in jail due to the fire and her grandmother dying on the operating table propelled the heroine to a career in medicine. 

Thirteen years later, Hong Jihong (after stints in Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic) is a professor of neurosurgery and both Hye Jung and See Woo became Fellows in Neurosurgery. They all work in the same hospital. What are the odds? Then comes a series of medical and surgical subplots and individual inpatient cases and a second lead in Jung Yoon-do (Yun Kyun Sang) as another capable neurosurgeon and it becomes very enlightening and educational series. I simply enjoy watching people saving lives and making a difference in society. Although Hye Jung seeking justice for her grandmother’s untimely demise makes the plot convoluted. It's out of character for a doctor not to know her country’s statute of limitations.

I ship Park Shin-hye here with Yun Kyun Sang as I find it so awkward for a teacher to fall for a student especially within the confines of a high school. But Hong Ji Hong is the more acclaimed neurosurgeon and his love story with Hye Jung is an adorable garnish.  

I know Park Shin-hye doesn’t like summer as much as she does winter but I like her style and fashion in this 

drama. In her other summer-filmed drama, Heartstrings, she wore mostly nun-clothes. In Doctors, she not only comes into her own as a lead character but a stylish top star. 

And I like watching medical dramas, I believe health is wealth. We all need the services of health professionals at some point in our lives, even health professionals themselves. I like all the studying they're doing in this drama, how the doctors and nurses are saving lives. People comes only to appreciate  that when their own health is in peril, not during their healthier, happier days. 

Pinocchio Kdrama

After Heartstrings, I got to watch Pinocchio. This is the best Park Shin-hye drama for people who enjoy discourses on news and journalism. The length and breadth of the significance of news in our lives could not be explained enough in this 20-episode arc.  Pinocchio here refers to a hiccup rather than a long nose.  I love the chemistry of the leads and its leading man, Lee Jong Suk is popular amongst Hallyu fans.  When the male and female leads are on-screen together, the electricity is palpable.

The writing is good.  Fake news could ruin lives.  Journalists should be ethical but sometimes nothing is further from the truth.  But when Gi Ha Myung became Choi Dal Po, he was already fourteen, basically a grown-up when viewed from the context of my generation. Maybe fourteen is really thirteen as they add one year to every age in Korea.  At 14, he may just be beginning adolescence but his personality is developed. So he's essentially already raised and his free will should never have followed his mum blindly.  But then life (or in this case fiction)  is complicated and his choice of staying by the side of the Choi family took precedence over the quest in finding his flesh and blood relatives and informing them that he did not perish in the sea. 

There are layers to the story.  The protagonists and antagonists all reached a satisfying conclusion aside from the older brother, Gi Jae Myung, although he was fully aware of the consequences of his vengeful acts.  Aside from Hyung. all the other characters, specially Choi In-ha's (Park Shin-hye) mother are punished lightly by circumstance.  Whilst the lead couple, Choi In-ha and Gi Ha-myung are looking forward to a future of wedded bliss and making beautiful babies together.

Watching this drama reminds me of technology and modernity as well. I like the sleekness of the news studios and the vastness of the buildings and headquarters and those tv monitors, big or small are nice touches in these fast-paced world. I like how those deleted messages were retrieved from old phones, every letter is sacrosanct when it comes to technology. 

I saw this drama several times on Viki and the last time on Netflix.  There are very few differences in the dialog, quite minute and inconsequential.  I could watch this drama again and again in the years to come. That's the by-product of streams and apps, shows and dramas are just a touch away. 

Heartstrings

Heartstrings or You've Fallen for Me is the next Park Shin-hye drama I have viewed, shown two years prior to Heirs in 2011. Actually I was gearing towards Pinocchio next but Heartstrings had a pull.  I could have just clicked on  You're Beautiful or He's Handsome ( I have yet to master the intricacies of all these translations) first as Jung Yong Hwa (of CN Blue), the lead in Heartstrings is the melancholic second lead of You're Beautiful. Too right, this is to appease the fans suffering from a heartfelt second lead syndrome from You're Beautiful.  

I don't really re-watch the first seven episodes of Heartstrings as Lee Shin (Jung) is pining for the dancer professor.  Set in a creative arts university (or college?), Lee Shin and Lee Gyu Won (Park Shin-hye), look gorgeous together. His character plays the guitar and a leader and lead singer of a contemporary rock band, the campus hearthrob and she's a gayageum player and leads her own traditional music girl group. Her character also sings and is learning how to dance.  But IRL, Park Shin-hye is a kick-ass dancer who cooks well and does crafts in addition to playing the guitar and piano and cry on cue.  

Anyway, Heartstrings is lighter than light, fluffy fare. After episode seven, Lee Shin realised that his heart really belongs to Lee Gyu Won and becomes the Guy, that not even nasty made-up rumors could throttle his feelings for the Girl. Isn't that sweet?  He is so swoon worthy.  Lee Shin even sang a love song for his girl heard through the school audio system. He is such a pillar of strength for the talented heroine. 

However, the drawback are the kissing scenes, those opened-eyes, startled-reaction kisses from Lee Gyu Won.  Who invented those kind of kisses and scenes? Why would a pivotal scene become a laughing stock of a gif for years to come? Even the last kiss is so tame. It should be a good kiss or no kiss at all.  An emotional stare, heart-wrenching lines, a proper, reciprocated hug make a reel love story come to light. 

I love the PSH hairstyle here, short, curly-haired bob. Waif like. But the female lead's fashion of balloon skirts and grandma tops?  I don't know.  There are a lot of stylish garb for a summer drama.  I could see it on the dancer professor. The wardrobe BTS people just didn't think a little deeper for this leading lady. 

I hope the two leads would collaborate again, if not in acting, a duet in a CN Blue comeback album ( all the members are on mandatory enlistment) or a reunion concert for ANJELL? We have to wait a while but who knows. 

The Heirs

The Inheritors or He Who Wishes to Wear the Crown Endures Its Weight --The Heirs -- is actually not my first kdrama since 2002.  I've seen a few on Netflix Korean and Japanese dramas but none grabbed my attention as The Heirs had done.  It all started when Janice De Belen posted a scene on her instagram account and I'm not sure if it was the caption or she wouldn't keep mum about Lee Min Ho, or something else, that it lured me to open a Viki account and marathon the 20-episode series.  

The story definitely, is easy-watch.  It doesn't annoy or makes you think deep and hard.  I couldn't grasp the charisma of Lee Min Ho or Kim Woo Bin.  They're tall though and are believable as bullies.  I was more fascinated with Park Shin-Hye's character Cha Eun-Sang -- such  a brave girl to venture to Los Angeles with little money and only a few words of English in her hand carry. A maid's ( ok, housekeeper's) daughter in Seoul, a hardworking lass who works part-time jobs during school breaks and after school hours,  she wanted to embrace her older sister's world and try her luck in a western setting.  But her sister wasn't a university student as she discovered but lives a down-on-her-luck existence in the US. Once the sister grabbed the pile of cash from her luggage, we never see the sister ever again. We hear about her in episode 20, a passing reference, a good use of a plot device as one comment implies. 

The Heirs is male-centric in nature. The central theme is the torture of Lee Min Ho's character Kim Tan and his rich-boy problems, the conflicts with his half-brother, chairman father and ex-best friend.  It's inconceivable to exile a 15-year old to live on his own in a mansion in Hollywood with no adult supervision. But that's the opening sequences of the drama. Even at 18 or (was it 17?), it's still too young to loiter independently in that gorgeous, huge abode with its infinity pool and fantastic view. I don't see an aunt to nag Kim Tan about schoolwork or cleaning ladies coming or going. On my first viewing, it took me a few more episodes to realise the main characters are still in high school.  

So as the damsel that needed to be rescued in LA, poor Cha Eun-sang crossed paths with rich Kim Tan.  They bonded through California adventures and car-rides and mutual attractions were embedded in their psyche so early, you know this is it (unless you don't like both or either of the leads). But Kim Tan is already engaged to be married to a rich girl, the antagonist with a great pout (Kim Ji Won). Here, here, obstacles from the get-go.  And when everybody is back in Korea studying in the same elite school, the saga of  Kim Tan falling for his household housekeeper's daughter (coincidence?) begins. Cha Eun-sang was given a scholarship in the rich-people school as Kim Tan's father's way of reminding her, that it is not an option for a poor girl to fraternise with a rich heir of an empire as those snobby kids would point it out to her every single school day her status in the social hierarchy. 

This is no Disney's Cinderella story, I feel for Cha Eun-sang's and her tears in this drama.  She has the right to be scared.  She has the right to be tearful.  The kids in the new school are mean and bullies anyone who is poor and on scholarship.  Kim Tan, the rich conglomerate ( they also own the school) second-son might have fallen for her, but that's a no-no in the real world.  She reciprocates the feeling but she knows the repercussions are huge hence her hesitation to act on it.  We're talking of power and money, a maid's daughter could never fathom.  Then there's Choi Young-do, (Kim Woo Bin), Kim Tan's former best friend, now erstwhile enemy, only heir of a hotel magnate and the school's lead bully, also falling for Cha Eun-sang, whose idea to win a girl over is to trip her or better yet, trip her while she's holding her lunch tray. I guess despite the his example of a metaphor, pushing someone in the pool, is not cool, dude.  That's mean. I give him chops though for character development in the latter episodes.  He behaved better than Kim Tan in the second half of the drama and hopefully has set aside his obnoxious ways and despite his declaration, be a friend to Cha Eun-sang. 

The critique for the Cha Eun-sang character is the way she wallows in misery when she's in a love triangle with two heirs of empire.  What good any of the union with either of these rich boys give her, given the disapproval of the rich families and society? Maybe a lift home from school or from one of her part time jobs every now and then? 

Kim Tan, is the son of his father with his live-in partner, his mistress. But in the family register, he is listed as the son of the second wife, never divorced and the principal of the elite high school. His older brother, Kim Won (Choi Jin Hyuk), the one who exiled him to California and the president of the company, is the son of the late first wife (who was Korean-American).  Won and Tan are the heirs of the largest shareholder of a big conglomerate, there should be a power-struggle.  But at 18, all Kim Tan wants is an escape from the arranged engagement and be with Cha Eun-sang.  Could this young love lead to a royal wedding or fade into a memory?  Add to that his desire to have his real mother be recognised and walk along the streets in her pricey designer wardrobe. 

There's a happy ending for the OTP ( a given). After all the tears, the threats, the running away, the slaps, the exchange of harsh words, plane tickets to Buenos Aires, the absence from school, the shareholders voting, it was the brother, Kim Won, who was the game-changer in the Tan-Eun Sang couple.  The main Dad was all threats, no definitive action. 

The other students of the school or the actors in the poster are memorable -- they're now big names --from Kang Minhyuk (he's CN Blue drummer, although at this writing all members of CN Blue are serving in the military), Krystal,  Kang Haneul, Park Hyungsik (a big name on every popularity poll).  Although I really want to see DOTS, I couldn't, because I couldn't yet move on from the Kim Ji Won slap. 

The story might be light, full of necessary or unnecessary tears, cliche in most aspects.  But it's popular.  Lee Min Ho and Park Shin-hye were playing high-schoolers, years younger than their actual ages.  But the mark of good actors is to be able to portray characters whether older and younger.  In Heirs, it's just a longer than usual throwback.  Besides, I reckon this drama really catapults every one to stardom.  It's a reference point.  Like Lee Min-ho's and Park Shin-hye's name are forever attached on google.  Lee Min-ho is huge. He's got a few followers in my workplace who are not happy that he's doing mandatory enlistment right now.  He's got loads of followers on Drama Fever, the others are not even close.  He's top four on Viki every single month. So is Park Shin-hye, her Instagram followers might not be as many as the other kids, like the Kpop idols or those younger ladies who had a bit of tweaks here and there.  But it's not a low figure and she doesn't post a lot. I bet some web influencers could only dream of that number.  

For the love chemistry, between Kim Tan and Cha Eun-sang, all those gazing into each other eyes.  Yeah, worthy of a ship on screen and beyond.  I don't get it why she had to sleep on the couch though, when they were forced to stay the night in the motel in the third episode. Isn't it more gentlemanly for him to give her the bed? 

Culture-divide. That's one beef. No, I love you, dialogue? I still couldn't decipher if there was a lost in translation.  It might be a running gag that both Eun-sang and Tan are ranked so low in school.  But really, Cha Eun-sang should be ranked higher.  Her part-time jobs should not be an excuse for poor academic standing while Tan has no excuse at all, with his resources and privilege.  

post-op

My second general anaesthetic was harder than the first, for the significant amount of dizziness and detritus associated with huge doses of opiates. After three weeks, I'm still in pain especially after exertion and  I'm such a scar former, that the discolouration makes me dig deep for cebo de macho (where do I find cebo de macho in the Western Hemisphere?).  

I wouldn't be able to push any prams anymore. There's nothing harder than pushing prams or hoping beyond hope for childcare. Not only child care requires favours from friends here and there, it requires the bulk of time, energy and expenses. The resources are stretched beyond limits. 

I was also told I was fat.  I couldn't move hence I couldn't exercise and I love carbs. But I reckon, the young doctor was just young, he actually said healthy, nonetheless, only the gossip-laden, surface- interesting person would not get the sting behind the ubiquitous word. Let's see when we'll get better.  By better, I mean back to the heavy lifting, daily ten-thousand paces and intense-cardio. Fine, I didn't actually do intense-cardio or daily ten-thousand paces. But close.

Park Shin-hye

Since Lilet (a colleague) and Janice De Belen (no less) re-introduced me to Kdramas in February this year, it seemed I haven’t stopped using it as a filler to the highly-toxic, backstabbing environment of western-based serials.  Actually it all started on Netflix,  I started with a Japanese  (2014 Mischievous Kiss) rom-com and US romantic plots starring teenagers then Netflix (bless), kept on suggesting this and that Korean dramas and I reckoned, would I allow myself to be swallowed by this vortex yet again? It would be like going to the point of no return, once you’re trapped, you’re trapped. I began with a few web series, and now I reckon the theme was mostly about chaebols and arranged marriages.  

Then Janice posted something about The Heirs starring Le Min Ho (Janice fan girls on Lee Min Ho)  I had no idea who Park Shin-Hye was in the grand scheme of existence.   So I watched the Heirs and it was easy, comfort viewing.  The female lead of The Heirs then became my celebrity bias.    

As for the bias, I followed Judy Ann Santos career for more than two decades and her dropping the late Alfie Lorenzo as manager didn’t bode well with me.  I know that celebrities change management for a better career path  or out of whim.  But  I think of loyalty as sacrosanct in this case. So I don't fan-girl as much. 

But back to Park Shin-Hye, her detractors or what’s the millennial term, trolls or bashers think that she performed voodoo on her fans across the world for the unconditional support (based on comments at Drama Fever) There’s no such thing as voodoo in entertainment fanfare.   There’s a reason why some celebrities are more popular than others.  It’s what you call charisma.  The powers-that-be could mix and match opportunities (ex C. Sotto) but if the audience don’t like you, you would just be, for lack of depth on words, not popular.  I like Park Shin-Hye.  I have been enjoying her dramas.  She has a lone antagonist role in her career but most of the time she's the good girl with the tears on cue. 

The Hallyu fans are mostly girls so they drool over guys like Lee Min Ho, Lee Joon Gi, Lee Soo Hyuk, Kim Soo-hyun and Kpop groups such as Super Junior, Big Bang, BTS. My sympathies meanwhile are with female stars.  I had never followed a boy band in my life.  Or fall for a schleb dude. 

So let's decipher the list of Park Shin-Hye's  (PSH) Dramas, based on the order of when I've seen them:

The Heirs or He Who Wishes to Wear the Crown Endures its Weight (2013)-- is the ultimate feel-good soap. Set in rich people high school, Cha Eun Sang PSH) is the maid's daughter, pursued and driven to exile by the son of the owner of the mansion Kim Tan played by Lee Min Ho.  Kim Tan's friend turned enemy, Choi Yong Do (Kim Woo Bin), another heir to empire is also interested in her (but his  bullying in the beginning is way too scary). Cha Eun Sang being impoverished and Kim Tan being illegitimate (although not on paper) provide material for all the conflicts. 

Heartstrings or I've Fallen for You (2011) - the first six episodes I don't really re-watch but the next nine episodes is worth viewing again and again.  It's a love worth pursuing for the talented OTP (I've come to grips with all the new terms). Jung Yong-Hwa is the most good-looking of all PSH leading men, so far and what is there not to swoon with leads who both sing and play instruments? I, too wish, I could learn to play gayageum or guitar or piano.

Pinocchio  (2014-15) -- this is the best- written of all her dramas. Media could push a person's mental health to the limit.  That's the premise of life.  Now, with social media taking over the lives of the young and generation X, it's time for detox.  The leads romantic entanglement plays only second fiddle to fake news. 

Doctors (2016)--PSH plays a neuro-surgeon, Yoo Hye-Jong, I like all the brain surgery scenes and her high-kicks, martial-arts moves to prove her point.  What I don't like is a doctor being clueless on the laws of statute of limitations of her country.  But PSH being a kick-ass surgeon? That's way too cool. 

You're Beautiful (2009) -- As trainee nun, Go Mi-nyeo is masquerading as her twin brother Go Mi-nam, the newest member of a boy band. It's very much obvious that she's a girl.  But while two of the guys including the leader played by Jang Keun-Suk is aware that she's a girl, Jeremy, the drummer (vocalist of FT Island Lee Hong-gi) is oblivious. I love this drama as all members of the main cast can sing. Together and individually, they're superb performers. It's a cute love- square.  I'm such into second lead syndrome on this one (and it's not because I've seen Heartstrings first). Because, really, what's your glitch Hwang Tae-kyung (Jang Geun-suk)?

Flower Boys Next Door (2012) -- it's a study on the life of an introvert.  There are no parents in this drama.  That in itself is a breath of fresh air.  PSH plays Go Dok Mi, a highly-reclusive copy editor and she spouts words of wisdom about life, not on Twitter but through the voice-overs.  It's very profound (not a whole lot of nothing as one reviewer noted). This drama proves my point that some men like their women  quiet and conservative. 

Hayate, the Combat Butler (2013) - PSH's is dubbed in Mandarin as it is a Taiwanese production.   How do you say your lines in Hangul while the rest of the cast speak Mandarin?  She has an unflattering hairstyle but PSH has the kind of beauty that the more you stare her, the more beautiful she becomes on screen. The first few episodes are kind of annoying but the chemistry with George Hu is heartfelt. I mean, ship! 

Little Cabin in the Woods, Little House in the Forest (2018) -- it's not a drama but I always enjoy documentaries. It shows PSH and So Ji Sub cooking and doing experiments about happiness and solitude in the middle of nowhere.  I'm so impressed with PSH ability not only with cooking but doing crafts, making objects, chopping firewood -- her fruit hammock, bird's house, shoe rack, the flower-painting of the main window of the cabin are all good. 

But I guess her best drama (gut-feeling) is the one with Lee Wan, Tree of Heaven, filmed when she was 16.  I'm still too squeamish to see it in its entirety. I shouldn't be reading plots and spoilers. It's  love in its loveliest and purest form.  It's in the same league as Stairway to Heaven (they're sister dramas).  How sweet ...