‘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.