Farewell Dinner at Big Mama’s (Korean Food)

We had a farewell dinner (some time back) for our favorite Korean language teacher’s farewell and where else would we go but a Korean restaurant! Ke had suggested going to Big Mama, whose owner, to our pleasant surprise happened to be 샘's friend. So with venue in place and day scheduled, all that was left was to await the (farewell) dinner.

The day come and we met as planned at Tanjong Pajor MRT Station. Big Mama is just a walk way; about 10-15 minutes from the station. Coincidentally there was a Korean meetup group having the same meeting place and same venue - we had to clarify a couple of times that we were not the... Read More>>

Pal Ja Mak Chang (팔자막창) - HaHa's (Running Man) Korean BBQ Restaurant

 

If you are on a celebrity hunt, into food (not to mention crazy about Running Man), and happened to be in the Hongdae area (of course you could always make the trip down) you should visit HaHa's Korean BBQ Restaurant Pal Ja Mak Chang (팔자막창). Getting there might not be so straight forward (I just followed DramaQueen heh). You could follow the instructions from this blog or just use your GPRS (Google Maps rule! - I'm tech like that). Who knows you might even bump into the man himself (HaHa is said to often visit his restaurant at night and sometimes even ... Read more >>

The Actresses

The Actresses is a South Korean film produced in 2009 by director E J-yong. According to Wikipedia, director E J-yong was inspired by two of his close actress friends, Yoon Yeo-jeong and Ko Hyeon-jeong and wanted to show the public how charming actresses are in real life. So Yoon Yeo-jeong, Lee Mi-sook, Ko Hyeon-jeong, Choi Ji-woo, Kim Min-hee and Kim Ok-bin, together with director E J-yong wrote the script (which was improvised). E J-yong would provide the conflict and the actresses improvised, which included a real-life confrontation between Ko Hyeon-jeong and Choi Ji-woo, each admitting that their on-set relationship was strained, with Ko Hyeon-jeong admitting that she felt envious of Choi Ji-woo's looks.

So together, the 6 actresses, portraying themselves in the film, come together for a Vogue magazine photo shoot on Christmas Eve, resulting in a clash of egos between individuals not used to sharing the limelight... Read more>>

Price of Fame in The Korean Entertainment Industry: Is it worth it?

The Korean wave, particularly Kpop, seems to be unstopping transcending across language and continents, from Asia (Taiwan, China Singapore, Malaysia etc…) to Europe (Paris etc..). To produce artistes that are versatile, the Korean entertainment industry has developed a “fool-proof” way to nurture talent to become world-class performers. 

All Korean artistes require going through a training phase which consists of intense singing lessons, dance training, and language lessons amongst other lessons. Many of these artistes may remain as trainees until they officially debut. For example, Jokwon from the ballad group 2AM was a JYP trainee for 8 years before he debuted, while G-Dragon and Taeyang of Big Bang have been with YG Entertainment since their pre-teen days. The training ensures that artistes that debut are strong in both their vocal and dancing skills. 

For those that survive and shine through the training and debut, they have to contend with others in a highly competitive and evolving industry; they either shine or fizzle out after their debut depending on their popularity.

However, despite the success, glitz and glamour, there is an interesting “dark” side to this formula. As it takes money and time investing in training potential artistes, entertainment companies such as SM Entertainment, have had issues with “slave contracts” where deemed unfair to the artiste (e.g. 13 year length and unfair distribution of album sale profits)...Read more>>

Manhwa: Cutie Boy by Hwang Mi-ri

Cutie Boy is another of Hwang Mi-ri’s creations spanning 8 volumes. The story revolves around Lee Han-Ah, a girl who happens to be the leader of her high school gang and her mishaps at her attempts to look for a pretty boyfriend.

When Han-Ah was in grade school, she was bullied by a boy called Yoo-Min. Yoo-Min had made fun of her and commented that she had a “wide and flat” butt; it left a scar in her heart, not knowing that it was actually Yoo-Min’s method of expressing his affection. Now in high school, Han-Ah has become the leader of the gang at her school. Although she is not a talented fighter, she wins fights by using the ‘innocent’ girl act. Although she is not that enthusiastic about her new role, her friends push her to do so as she is seen as their only hope. As her school is an all-girls school, the girls were once bullied by the boys from a nearby boy’s school, until Han-Ah became the captain and started to win fights.

On day, Han-Ah meets Yoo-Min on the streets and starts dating him without knowing that he is the same Yoo-Min that had bullied her in grade school. She soon finds out that his true identity and becomes scared of him. However, after a series of encounters with Yoo Min, she begins to realize that he truly cares for her. During the exams terms Yoo-Min takes her to meet his family, and his grandmother tells him she won’t allow him to be with Han-Ah because her narrow hip is not suitable for bearing children (the root of all the tormenting). They start going out again but due to some misunderstanding, Han-Ah becomes Mi Yoo’s ‘girlfriend’, because he realizes she is his ideal type of woman...Read More>>