96th post

21,700 hits, 96th post, 10 categories, 801 tags, 86 comments as of the second day of October. So far, this is my longest running blog, a year and four months. I know I should’ve done this as an anniversary post but my schedule was jampacked that time. I was on my way home when I thought of writing this. For the past few days, I spent some hours revisiting all my previous posts and editing some of the typographical errors. One of the weird things about me is that I don’t do final reading when I write something, a lesson that I should’ve learned long, long time ago. Even at work, I don’t do final reading of whatever report I have written. But in blog entries like this, I usually read my writings after a month at the shortest, that’s the only time I discover the flaws of my composition.

But it’s not the writing errors that surprised me but rather the discovery of what I once felt while I was writing those previous blog posts. It felt like the one who wrote it is a stranger to me. I didn’t realize how hurt or desperate I was with my former job.  I also didn’t realize that my Toasted Marshmallows entries are 90% about a “could have been”, it’s surprising to find out that I once felt that way. I also didn’t know that I almost wrote the entire 25 episodes of Boys Over Flower in my 10 part writing series. Lastly, I must also admit that I sound quite conceited for some or maybe most of my posts. I guess, that’s another thing about me, I tend to make myself believe that I’m better at this and that so as not to give permission to those people who’re trying to destroy my confidence, I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing, all I know is that such defense mechanism of mine works for me.

For my 96th post I would like to thank everyone who spent time reading my entries and most especially, to those who posted comments. I hope that this blog brings a positive aura, brilliance, sunshine. I am hoping to write more and better in the days, months and years to come.

Thank You, Kam-sa Hamnida, Terima Kasih, Toa chie, Domo Arigato, Merci, Gracias, Maraming Salamat.

Just sad…

“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A friend posted this quote in Facebook, I was actually surprised reading it ’cause I wasn’t expecting that such a quote will come from him, it really was a total surprise. My perception of him is that he’s cold but reading this made me realize that maybe he’s just sad just like the men of my favorite K-dramas. Boys Over Flowers’ Gu Jun Pyo, You’re Beautiful’s Hwang Tae Kyung and Only You’s TJ Han all appears to be cold but they are actually not, they just have their own respective internal dilemmas.

Gu Jun Pyo

Born and raised as the heir of ShinHwa Group, he doesn’t know what it’s like have a real family, how to live as a normal person.

Hwang Tae Kyung

ANJell’s leader, loved and respected by his many fans but deep inside he’s longing for the love of his mother who abandoned him since childhood.

TJ Han

Born as a billionaire, the successor of Dae Young Group but he doesn’t know how it is to have a whole family, his mother left them while his father sees him as a failure.

These three are just fictitious characters but somehow it reveals to us a side of  the human behavior. A man is made up of the events that he has to go through. Each of us are unique because each of us went through unique experiences that makes up who we are.

You’re Beautiful is Beautiful

You’re Beautiful stars Jang Geun Suk and Park Shin Hye, it’s currently shown here in the Philippines through ABS-CBN  under the title He’s Beautiful. Unfortunately, my work schedule won’t allow me to watch it. Thanks to the downloads of the episodes with English subs ’cause I was able to watch it in my own time. 

I just finished watching “You’re Beautiful” last  August 27. Obviously, I can’t get over this K-drama, my verdict:

“Your Beautiful is beautiful”

What makes “You’re Beautiful” beautiful?

Warning: SPOILIER ALERT!

It’ a roller coaster ride that is truly refreshing to watch, you’ll surely laugh, swoon and be touched each episode. It’s not entirely a crazy comedy neither a super mushy love story nor a melodrama, it’s a perfect mix of everything which makes it really entertaining. You’ll find yourself staring at your screen smiling even if the characters are in drama mode already. I’m not saying that you’re not going to emphatize with the characters, it’s just that it feels like I know the lead characters so well (at least for me) that I have faith in them that things will not end badly.

To further expound on this, let me go by the characters one by one to tell you how they made each episode beautiful.

Yoo He Yi

What’s a story without a villain? We hate villains, ’cause it’s like they’re born to make other people’s lives miserable but let’s face it, the plot is boring without them.

She’s a total mean girl, she shows the bad side of a celebrity, national fairy when the spotlight is on but is truly a national liar off cam. But digging deep into her character, she’s a walking testimonial that life is not all about good looks, fame and superficial things. She’s got everything every girl could wish for except the heart of the guy she likes the most. Her memorable line: “How come I wear the princess clothes but she gets the treatment?” Go Mi Nam/Go Mi Nyu may not look like a princess but all the three boys are treating her special, totally ignoring Yoo He Yi’s pretty face. Oh well, nothing beats a pure heart.

I love the scene when Hwang Tae Kyung sent a message to her dad that she’s pregnant, it’s like “the bitter taste of your own pill”, I was really laughing crazily in that scene. 

Jeremy

He’s the funny guy, the child like character in the A.N.Jell group, he’s the cutesy kitch part.  He’s really funny especially during the times when he’s denying that he’s falling for Go Mi Nam ’cause he doesn’t know that she really is a girl. He’s having an internal dilemma when in fact he really has nothing to be afraid of.

Things changed for a while when he ran off ’cause he found out that Go Mi Nam/Go Mi Nyu is in love with Hwang Tae Kyung and not him. The miracle bus scene was moving, guess it’s really “extra” hard to see someone who’s always so jolly, cry in front of you. But as I said, what I loved about this drama is that, it gives you the feeling that you really know these people, you know that they’re not going to do anything bad just because their love can’t be reciprocated. And you know, that somehow they’ll recover from the heartbreak. But despite feeling this close with the characters I was really moved when Jeremey got off his miracle bus and smiled like nothing happened. How I wish there really is such a thing as miracle bus.

Shin Woo

Even if you know what to say, what to do and when is the right time, it doesn’t guarantee that the person you love the most will love you back. He’s a guy with a kind heart, he cared for her from the very start, he proctected her, he loves her dearly, he held onto the very end but he didn’t get anything in return aside from friendship. Shin Woo is like the dream guy in this drama, he’s the opposite of Yoo He Yi since he really is a good guy but just like Yoo He Yi he still can’t win the heart of the girl he loves the most. Love truly is complicated.

Hwang Tae Kyung

He plays the idol part of the group, the cold hearted music genius that leads A.N.Jell. Tae Kyung never pretended in front of the fans, he doesn’t smile that often, he looks irritated when he really is, yet all the fans adore him so much even thinking that their idol is perfect but of course he’s not. Aside from his allergies, night blindness and being germphobic, he’s cold because of the bitter past with his mom that he’s trying to forget but thanks to the warmth of Go Mi Nam/Go Mi Nyu that melted the coldness of Tae Kyung’s heart. Truly Love can change almost everything, the always frowning Tae Kyung learned how to smile because of Go Mi Nam/ Go Mi Nyu and learned how to care. He even went to great lengths protecting her by pretending to be Yoo He Yi’s boyfriend. He’s not the typical romantic guy you could think of but he’ll make you swoon.

I love it when he sang “Fly Me to the Moon” and when he surprised Go Mi Nam/Go Mi Nyu with a kiss after they watched the movie. All his scenes that includes the pig-rabbit were really funny, it never fails to make me laugh. But my favorite is when he asked Go Mi Nam/Go Mi Nyu in the fan site how much she likes him, I was really rolling with laughter and also I think it he was at his cutest during this scene. Since then, I always laugh whenever he mentions about his score.

I don’t know why almost all the leads in Korean dramas drags the girl, shouts at them even when they are saying I love you, if you’re really going to think of it, it’s not at all romantic but the weird thing is it all appeals to us, You’re Beautiful’s Hwang Tae Kyung is no exception to this.

Amongst all three, it’s the prickly Hwang Tae Kyung that I like the most despite of his personality.

Go Mi Nam/Go Mi Nyu

She’s so pure and chaste which was taken advantage of Manager Ma and Yoo He Yi. She’s also so innocent to believe the acupuncture point piggy nose and to believe Yoo He Yi’s lies. But she’s also clumsy and accident prone leading to very sweet moments with Hwang Tae Kyung. I’ve seen other Korean dramas having a clumsy girl character, some reached the point of irritating me but not Go Mi Nam/Go Mi Nyu. Like Hwang Tae Kyung, she also has a very sad life in the past but unlike him she remained positive in life.

I like the way she smiles and she never fails to make me laugh whenever she does the piggy nose.

Park Shin Hye and Jang Geun Suk

I really love their team-up, they look so well together. I can’t imagine how Park Shin Hye transformed as a guy by the name of Go Mi Nam. At first, I don’t like Jang Geun Suk that much because his outfits and his make-up are quite exaggerated because of his character and also he looks like a girl to me but throughout the drama I began to appreciate him.

Aside, from the pretty faces that these two has, I can say that they acted out their parts really well considering that this is their first major dramas. I am actually hoping that they’ll reunite in another drama.

Aside from the characters, I love this drama because of the “paraphernalias” like the use of stars, I really love stars from the necklace in Endless Love-Autumn in my heart to Jan Di’s necklace in Boys Over Flowers and now to another necklace. I also love the piggy rabbit, I am not a fan of stuffed toys but I love this one, ’cause it’s so unique. And of course, I also love the 100,000 KRW hairpin.

Lastly, the songs used in this drama are really nice, I know I can’t understand anything aside from the very few english words that they used but thanks to the translations, I was able to grasp the song’s meaning. I’ve actually downloaded the OST and surprisingly, it makes me happy by just listening to it.

I really enjoyed this drama, it’s truly refreshing to watch, so to those who haven’t watched it yet, this one is highly recommended and sorry for some of the spoilers.

One More Time- Boys Over Flowers Tidbits (Part9)

One More Time

One More Time!

ABS-CBN will re-run my favorite Koreanovela of all time, Boys Over Flowers as a gift to its fans for Christmas. No timeslot announcements have been made until now but it will be a part of the Primetime Bida, I’m just hoping that it will shown anytime from 8:30PM onwards, so that I may be able to watch it, but I think the likelihood is remote, so I guess BOF will retain it’s timeslot the first time it was shown. But I’m still hoping that my dear, Jun Pyo’s schedule will match mine

Jan Di shoes – Boys Over Flowers Tidbits (Part 8)

I thought my addiction to Boys Over Flowers (BOF) won’t cost me a centavo, except for the time, electricity and internet hours I spent but I was wrong.

A week before watching the Korean Drama, I was at the mall looking for a perfect pair of flats to replace my then worn out shoes, I saw a pair from Zara but I hesitated since it’s quite above my self-imposed ceiling price.

As I was watching BOF, I was shocked to see that Jan Di was awed with a shoe which is quite similar to the one I’ve been eyeing, the dark silver shoe with gem-like stones.

About a week after finishing the drama, I went to the mall and found the pair that I’ve been eyeing, it was marked on sale. Seeing it on sale and watching an almost similar pair part of my favorite Korean drama, I can’t anymore fight the urge of buying them so I asked the saleslady for my size. As I was fitting the shoe, I saw another pair, OMG it was exactly the same as Jan Di’s, so I grabbed it and asked for my shoe size, it’s also on a discount much lower than the pair that I was originally eyeing, so I’ve already decided that I will buy it as I was hoping that they still have stocks. But then, it’s the last pair, awww….. it’s not meant to be. So, I settled on buying the pair of flats that I originally wanted.

Oh well, I might not be able to buy the same exact pair but I was able to buy the sister of “Jan Di shoes” (as I fondly call it). So, my BOF addiction made me shell out some bucks but I’m happy everytime people are telling me how cute my shoes are.

Things to do after CIA

It was September last year when I attended the orientation for the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) review. It’s almost a year now and I still haven’t take the test. I applied last March for the examination permit, it got released last June. I am scheduled to take the exam late this year. I must admit that the efforts I am currently exerting is not as intense as compared to my efforts for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) board exam last October 2006. Maybe, because I’m more confident now or because there is lesser pressure now since only a few knows that I’ll be taking the exam. I am not really sure why but I really want to attain the designation, furthermore, it has costed me nearly 50,000 pesos and that amount for me is no joke, so from this day forward I’ll be exerting more effort. But for now let me list down the things I want to do after CIA:

1. Take a trip to Hong Kong and Macau (plus Shenzhen if my means will permit me to do so)
2. Read New Moon once again to refresh my memory for the movie which will be shown on November 25 here in the Philippines.
3. Watch Twilight movie, again.
4. Watch the movies I’ve copied from my friends. My Hard Disk is screaming now, it’s fully loaded.
5. Post in this blog more often.
6. Go to Quiapo, to search for the tagalized DVDs of Meteor Garden, Princess Hours, Boys over Flowers, Full House and watch them again.
7. Begin writing some short stories.
8. Join Singles for Christ (SFC).
9. Begin my scrapbook project.
10.Most importantly, look for the job that will give me hapiness, fulfillment and prosperity in my career.

Lord, please help me attain the CIA designation in just one take. Thank you.

The Wedding- Boys Over Flowers Tidbits (Part 7)

Pretty, right? But how about this one?

Now, who’s your bride?

I just watched the recorded episode of the tagalized BOF some minutes ago, thanks to xiaoyiu for uploading. Based on the teaser at the end of the episode, today will be Jun Pyo and Jae Kyung’s wedding day or should I say the judgement day for Jun Pyo, will he end up marrying Jae Kyung, or will he do something to save himself from eternal damnation? What do you think?

Of course, most of us know what the ending will be thanks to the torrent files available for download and to the pirated DVDs that abound almost every corner of the streets. But I’m not gonna tell what will come out of this wedding.

I remember how I felt watching it the first time, it was already 12:30 AM when the episode had its cliffhanger ending. My eyes are telling me that they need to rest for they still have to wake up early the following day but the better part of me knows that sleeping will be next to impossible seeing Jun Pyo and Jan Di in a situation like this. So, why prolong the agony? I’ve got the next episode on my hand so, I continued watching until it reaches the part that made me afford to sleep. It felt like I am Jan Di, I was on the brink of losing hope, of losing sanity, seeing Jun Pyo walking down the aisle. Yes, he did walk down the aisle.

I’m so looking forward to today’s episode, unfortunately, I have to wait ’til tomorrow to watch it since my office hours ends at 6pm and my travel going home is about an hour at the fastest rate.

To the Filipino fans who still don’t know yet what’s gonna happen next (if there’s still any), Enjoy!

BOF Tagalized- Boys Over Flowers Tidbits (Part 6)

Boys Over Flowers, my favorite Korean Drama is aired here in the Philippines by ABS-CBN everyday at around 5:30 PM in its tagalized version. But since I work from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, I don’t get to watch the show. Thanks to youtube because I get to download the episodes and watch them later on. It’s easier to watch since I don’t have to read the subtitles, I can just listen to Jan Di and Jun Pyo and understand them. ABS-CBN’s dubbing is good, the voices used to dub Jan Di and Jun Pyo fits their characters. However, there are some lines which I think weren’t translated well. Right now, I think they are currently airing episode 18 but I’ve already noticed a few translations which are quite different from what I read on the english subtitles. Let me share with you the scenes which I found to have a slight difference in terms of translation.

1. When F3 met Jan Di at the bridge in Macau after talking to Jun Pyo, Jan Di told them that she already knows that he doesn’t want to talk to her. In the subtitles it reads something like “I came here to hear it from him no matter how painful it is” but in the tagalized version it was something like “‘wag na kayong masyadong magalala dahil kung ano man yun, narining ko na yun mismo kay Gu Jun Pyo”, “don’t worry, whatever it might be I already heard it from Gu Jun Pyo himself”, it’s quite different right? I prefer the one I read from the english subs, it’s more fitting to Geum Jan Di’s character and besides it’s more consistent ’cause ‘though she and Jun Pyo already saw each other there at Macau, they haven’t talked to each other yet.

2. I’m not convinced with how they translated Ji Hoo’s sentiments when he was asking Jan Di about her plans now that Jun Pyo refuses to meet up with them because of his too tight schedule. I’m not also sure if they edited the rewind part when it was shown that Jan Di went to Ji Hoo first before going to the airport to fly to Macau.

3. The part where Jan Di and Ji Hoo went to the temple after their double date with Jae Kyung and Jun Pyo, the old man told Ji Hoo “Magiging pamilya kayo”, “you’ll be a family” referring to Jan Di. In the english subs, it goes something like, “She will bring you family”. Of course, I prefer the english sub since it opens two possible events, one the old man could mean that they are meant for each other or it could also be that it will be Jan Di who will bring back Ji Hoo’s grandfather, as we all know he is the only family that Ji Hoo has.

As of now, I only noticed three to enumerate, I don’t know if there are still others that escaped my scrutiny or if there will be others to come. Hopefully, this list will end here.

But still, I love ABS-CBN, their dubbing is still better, they are also good in promoting their shows, they have a good taste in choosing what asianovelas to export and they are good in stirring up the hype.

Vote for BOF! – Boys Over Flowers Tidbits (Part 5)

Our favorite Boys Over Flowers is nominated in the Seoul International Drama Awards for Best Drama. Also, Lee Min Ho and Gu Hye Sun were nominated for the Best Actor and Best Actress category, respectively for playing as star crossed lovers Gu Jun Pyo and Geum Jan Di.

To show our support let’s vote for them. Just click or copy paste the link, below:

http://kr.news.yahoo.com/event/sda2009/en_vote_drama.html

Spread the news to your friends

My Blog, My World

I’ve created this blog as a venue to share whatever it is that I am thinking or feeling, I don’t owe anybody any explanation, for this little island in cyberspace is something I can call my own.

Some posts here are intended for specific people, ‘though I know that the chances that they’ll bump into this blog in the worldwide web is remote. I just thought that it’s better to just put down into writing blogs whatever it is that I feel towards them rather than keep all the negative energy that they are causing me to myself.

I am not posting stuffs here to impress people but neither do I want them to hate me. I’m not claiming to be a writing genius as you can read in my about page, as I’ve said I’m more adept with numbers. I’ve never said that I’m rich as compared to anybody neither did I call myself successful.

To those who posted comments, especially on my “Boys Over Flowers Tidbits” entries, thank you. To those whose comments were not approved, “Live and let live” but still thanks for the comment, ‘though I feel sorry for the kilobytes of cyberspace you’ve wasted.

We all see the world in different views, all we need to do is to respect how others view it for we don’t have any idea what they are going through with their lives and how they are living their life.

*Today, I can’t help but think that one of the persons whom a specific entry in this blog was written for has finally read it.