Asia Fest 2008

I was in Nirvana yesterday. My community put together a celebration of Asian culture yesterday. I was surrounded by people of Chinese, Korean, Indian and Japanese decent. They had food from local Asian restaurants and also little booths with henna tattoos, Japanese candy art, and lovely Asian tchotchke's. I was there volunteering with my friend Yixuan since she is a part of the Chinese Association. The program involved Korean fan & drum dancing, Taiko drums as well as a few Indian dances too. My favorite one was an Indian dance by the Indian Association of Fort Myers. I was also excited to have two (I splurged!) pineapple bubble smoothies. I missed them so much, they used to be available to me when I was living on campus in Minneapolis I could just walk down to the cafe that served them. They were yummy, apparently not up to par with one's served in China, Yixuan said they were better there (she used to get one everyday for like 1 yuan.) I also ate some yummy pork skewers mmm. I didn't buy anything, I'm carefully watching my budget, but it was a fun day of entertainment. I loved watching the Korean drum dance. If you live in Southwest Florida, plan on checking this event out when they have it again next year. It's inexpensive culturally diverse fun for the whole family.

Rice-ess Crises.

I was watching the local news and found it odd that local super-stores were limiting the amount of rice people can buy. I found it odd, but not too surprising in our crappy economic situation. I also found out that it's become an issue in other countries too. It's so hard to believe that we are so close to recession and depression in the world. I have a lot of things in my life that are indicative of this. I really hope that we can get away from this trend. Let's hope that things get better soon for everyone.

Real-life Coffee Prince

If I'm hitting my target audience, chances are, you've heard of the MBC hit Coffee Prince. It seems the trend has moved from Japan, to this show, which features attractive men serving a mostly female clientèle. This is not only in the host-clubs I've previously told you about, but there are small cafe's all over Japan that each have a different theme, or play to the attractiveness of their servers. It seems that with the plot of the Korean drama Coffee Prince, they've managed to get this idea to the general public of Korea. So, now stores are opening up over the country. One such restaurant is called "Walking Slowly" and features current models of the company Modelline.


Aren't they cute? I want to go! Unfortunately, this kind of blatant ogling of people tends to fall into the politically incorrect area of our country, so we'll never see interesting shops like this in the States. Guess I'll just have to travel abroad!

Current obsession.

Rain

No, not the water that falls from the sky - something much better. This singer/actor/celebrity is pretty amazing. He's number 1 in 8 different countries. (Korea, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, China ((Mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan)), Vietnam and Cambodia.) He is currently filming Speed Racer in Germany, playing the part of Taejo Togokhan. His recent attempt to reach into the North American market has been plagued with complications. A Beatles cover band and their production company sued him for his name and ended up losing the case; allowing Rain to use his stage name in the U.S. However, the lengthy law suit cost him all of his scheduled concerts and the different concert halls and promoters are now seeking legal action against Rain and his production companies. It is uncertain whether or not the concerts that were originally post-poned will ever actually see the light of day. For now, I remain one of many faithful "Clouds" and hope for the best. As they say in Korea: Aja! Fighting!

Creepy and Disturbing

Albeit for a good purpose, this story just weirds me out. A group of scientists in Seoul have figured out how to clone dogs. Yep, so the story I just wrote about a bit ago could mean lots of heart-marked puppies! Not really. The program is restricted by the South Korean government to only use the stem cells of the countries elite drug-sniffing dogs. Any way you look at it though, they are re-creations of something living, which to me is just bizarre and pretty wrong. I understand the idea's and theories behind cloning; if something is good, a copy of it will be just as good. But, you have to wonder where the line between what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable is drawn, and who draws it? So, I sit and ponder the possibilities and follow myself in theoretical circles.

Korea Movie Review: 200 Pounds Beauty

Kim Ah Jung - Hanna/Jenny

Joo Jin Mo - Sang-Jun

Hanna, the main character is an overweight woman living with a secret crush on her boss. He is the producer for Ammy, Korea's newest up and coming singer. The only hitch? Ammy can't sing. Hanna does all the singing for Ammy behind the scenes. Desperation and negativity drive innocent Hanna to undergo full-body plastic surgery to change her appearance. Once she is "beautiful" she makes her own debut as "Natural Beauty" Jenny. Can Jenny stand up to the pressure, and will Sang-Jun fall for Jenny, and not for Hanna? You'll have to watch to find out!

This movie was amazing. I cried when the subtitles started repeating themselves half-way through my first viewing. (I've watched it more than once now!) ((And, yes, sad as it is, I still need subtitles for most of my Asian-media watching)) But putting all this aside, 200 Pounds Beauty was a stunning movie for me. I (obviously) am a woman of the bigger size, and I found this movie refreshing. Yes, Hanna attained her goals through plastic surgery, but if you pay attention, a lot of hard work went into her transformation. And, if you REALLY pay attention, you'll see the deeper side of this movie. It's about finding out who you really are, and coming to love that person, no matter what.

K-Drama Review: Goong

In a typical drama setting, Goong (Princess Hours/Palace) creates an atypical fan-following. Goong burst onto the scene earlier this year in Korea via MBC. If you follow any forums, drama sites or informative media outlets on Korean drama – you’ve heard about Goong. The cast is full of dazzling Korean stars such as Kim Jung Hyung,
The soundtrack is upbeat and contains Korean crooners such as Howl & J, Stay and Sorea. The music that isn’t filled with soulful Korean voices is just as well composed and enjoyable to listen to. I find that a lot of dramas spend their budget on anything BUT the soundtrack, and Goong proved to be an exception.

Goong focuses on the main character Shin Chae-Gyung, a typical cheerful Korean girl working towards her dream of being a fashion designer. Things get a little crazy when she finds herself suddenly married to the most eligible bachelor in South Korea, the crown prince! It is difficult for free-spirited and energetic Chae-Gyung to adjust to the life of a Bigoon (Crown Princess.) She is hounded by her maids to study, tormented by her classmates and stalked by the paparazzi. Her husband isn’t much help, as he finds her unattractive and wants nothing to do with her, while he looks down his nose at her. The trials of becoming the Crown Princess of South Korea take their toll on Chae-Gyungs’ emotions eventually – is Shin going to be there for her or leave her to her OTHER admirer second-in-line prince Yool? This exciting and dramatic show will capture anyone who watches it.

***Possible Spoiler Alert***
This show is one of my favorites so far. I haven’t watch a LOT of K-dramas – only about 5 or 6, but this one is awesome. The cinematography alone makes it stand out from a lot of other shows out there. The scenery is beautiful and well-shot. The main cast is a stellar line-up of Yoon Eun-Hae (Former Baby V.O.X. member), Ju Ji Hoon, and Kim Jung Hyun, whose charisma and chemistry with eachother makes the show entertaining and heart wrenching to watch. In the end there really is only one choice for the main characters to make, but the like to watch the audience squirm while they get there. Go enjoy this show. You can buy it here:

YesAsia

Bible: Remastered

Something new in the world of Christianity is difficult to come by. The religion has been around for thousands of years, so how does one improve upon that?
Korean company Xell has had a product on the market for awhile now that could revolutionize the way one reads their bible. The Digital Bible Player – shortened to DBP for your speaking ease – has been supplying Korean’s with the good Lord’s teachings digitally. The new launch adds an mp3 player and FM tuner so you can bebop to your favorite tunes at church or even listen to the football game you so desperately want to hear. There is also an E-book reader, allowing you to load other literature and read that at the same time. Not much of a chance in getting this little treasure to the states any time soon, but keep your eyes peeled if you speak hongol and want to read the bible with out the risk of those pesky paper cuts.

Thanks to the folks over at Akihabara News for this tid-bit.