Happy 14th Anniversary Shinhwa!

Today is Shinhwa's 14th Anniversary!!! Though I'm only a fan for several years (and only recently I became supreme-fangirl mode on them again), I could confidently say that I would be their fan for life. Their bond, their friendship, their talent and their frankness had attracted me and there's no way for me to get out of it. They are much older than me (11-13 years age gap) but I don't care, I've always like older men. XD

Today is also their concert in Seoul, celebrating their comeback and their 10th album. I was following the updates in Twitter throughout the whole time the concert was held, since there's fans updating with pictures and reporting live, so that's good enough for me. I really hope by the time their concert DVD is released, I already own a credit card and could just purchase online. TT_TT Even now, I'm regretting not bringing one of their concert DVD I left in Brunei to Penang, and only God knows when I would be able to go back to Brunei. -_-

CREDIT: AbsolutShinhwa.wordpress.com

[CREDIT: MNet Special Shinhwa Page + Shinbiz.com/forums (infiniti512) + Soompi Shinhwa Thread (kpopchild)]

*Faints from hotness overload*

Album Review: Shinhwa - The Return

I never wrote an album review because I don't tend to listen the whole album at the same day. However, today is actually the day Shinhwa's 10th album, The Return, is released online and I'm really excited that I actually waited till 12 a.m. Korean time (which will be 11 p.m. in Malaysia) just to go to the Korean music sites and listen to the 1 minute preview (I was unable to purchase the songs because I don't own any credit card, damn! TT_TT). I really want to support Shinhwa on their comeback but I really had no choice but to download the album illegally. Ugh, once I have a credit card, the first thing that I would buy from online would be Shinhwa's albums and DVD concerts.

However, I have been straying from my original purpose of this post, and without further ado, I shall start with my whimsical review of each song in the album. :) Be warned, I'm not exactly really familiar with all those musical and song-related terms so bear with me.

1. On the Road
What a fitting song to kick start the album! It's a faster paced type of slow song. Love the acoustic touch of the song. Looking at the translation, it's definitely quite sentimental (On the Road translation). It's almost  as if this is their welcoming song, welcoming all the members and the fans, now that they're back together, they and the fans would continue on the journey to the future~ The more I listened to this song, the more I like it.
Rating: 4.5/5

2. Hurts
Shinhwa's ballad title song. It's such a pleasant surprise that they have two title songs in which both differ from each other in genre. It's great that Shinhwa is trying to showcase their wide range of musicality (is that even a coherent sentence?). Here is the link to the translation: Hurts translation. Ballad is Hyesung's specialty but this song actually focused more on other members' parts, which is good. As much as I love Hyesung, other members deserve more parts too. This ballad is much more depressing compared to the other slow songs in this album. The slow rap part adds quite a nice touch to this song.
Rating: 4/5

3. Venus
Shinhwa's title song, electronic and autotuned. I was so worried when I first knew that it's gonna be electronic type of song. Thanks to the "weeds" that kept sprouting in the K-Pop scene, where all the "weeds" sang overtly autotuned songs, I was pretty turned off by K-Pop already. However, thankfully, Venus did not have any abuse of autotune, in fact, it was moderately done and the members' voices are still distinguishable. Not exactly my favourite title song from them (it lacked the brilliance that Brand New has), but compared to other autotuned title songs being thrown around in the current music scene, Venus pawns. I'm sure once the music video is released (next week), I'm gonna like this song even more. (Venus translation) I can't wait to see how was the dance choreography of this song looks like.
Rating: 4/5

4. Red Carpet
Another electronic and really modern song, perfect for clubbing, and much much more sexier and hot. Don't believe me? Look at the lyrics - Red Carpet translation. I'm really loving the rap part of this song.
Rating: 4/5

5. Move with Me
Loving the beat and groove of this song! This song is reminiscent of the 90s type of songs and many people commented that it seems like M's type of music, which I agreed. The beat, their voice and the rap are just so smooth and I can't help move my body along the song. (Move with Me translation)
Rating: 4.5/5

6. Let It Go
Another one of my favourite songs in the album. The piano adds a lovely touch to the majority of the song and the chorus is absolutely vocally brilliant. I love the part where they go "let it go, oh oh oh oh, let it go, oh oh oh oh oh, let it go, oh oh oh oh, baby let it go (I just can't go on)". My ultimate favourite part of the song. I must say Hyesung sounds awesome in this song. But then, he always does. (Let It Go translation)
Rating: 4.5/5

7. Stay
An upbeat and cheerful song~ Yet the lyrics doesn't seem to be that cheerful (Stay translation). I don't know why, I felt that this song sounds more like a remix rather than an original song, not to say that it's bad though. It doesn't sound like a song to be taken that seriously, rather it's more for fun.
Rating: 4/5

8. Welcome
I'm only neutral towards this song. My least favourite fast song of the album. The good thing about this song is, again, the rap part.
Rating: 4/5

9. Be My Love
The very first song that caught my attention while listening to the 1 minute preview in Korean music site. Until now, it's one of the higher ranked song from the album in my personal list. Disco type of song, the lyrics is just so sweet and cute at the same time, on the verge of being corny and cheesy (Be My Love translation). But I don't mind cheesiness. XD From this song, Andy's rap really had improved. I'm hoping they would perform this song or have some sort of dance.
Rating: 4.8/5

10. Re-Love
Another one of my favourite songs. Love the tempo and the members' voices here, especially Dongwan and Minwoo's voices. (Re-Love translation) This song is more like a typical boyband slow song.
Rating: 4.5/5

11. Breathin'
It seems like a fitting song to be the end. The tempo and melody seem to convey that everything would be alright in the end. There's something reassuring about this song. If that even make any sense. Here's the translation: Breathin'. Excellent harmonies, vocal, rap, melody, background music and every possible musical terms that are used for description.
Rating: 4/5

OVERALL, an excellent album~! It is highly recommended that you listen in the order that it was presented in the tracklist. It's easy to tell that Shinhwa put every ounce of effort in producing this album. Sorry for my lack of in-depth analysis of the song. :P Truth to be told, this review seems more like spazzing rather than a true review.

Countdown till Shinhwa's Comeback March 2012

Shinhwa is currently the longest-running boyband group in Korea, currently in their 14th year. In fact, this month is their 14th anniversary, in which their highly anticipated 10th album would be released, as well as concert tours.

Ain't this a lovely picture of them? :)

I first really noticed Shinhwa in Battle Shinhwa (I admit, my sentence structure kinda sucks). I had known them but was never interested. After watching Battle Shinhwa, which my friends forced me to watch, I was charmed by Andy. Then I bought their albums (sadly, pirated) and listened to most of their songs and I became a fan. =D I've only been crazy crazy about them for a short period of time, unlike DBSK, SS501 and 2PM (though I no longer am a fan of 2PM), I was usually a mild fan of Shinhwa, just listening to their songs.

However, thanks to the countless disappointments I experienced by the other groups that I had mentioned above, not to mention that it's been so long since we've last seen all 6 members together (since they're enlisted in the army at different times) and so much hype around their upcoming comeback, naturally, I read most of their news, and then I watched some of their old videos in Youtube, then listened to some of their songs, and then *BANG*, I'M A SHINHWA FANATIC AGAIN!!! XD I'm still not done watching their videos in Youtube, though I'm trying to restrain myself, all thanks to my assignment which I had not touched at all (-_-).

They also set up their own company, Shinhwa Company (so cool!!! XD), and is currently (well, starting from today actually), their own show, Shinhwa Show. They're also actively participating in shows and interviews to promote their comeback. Naturally, I'm super super excited.

Apparently, their title song from the new album is "Venus" and their concept is sexy and hot modern vampire. Oooh la la~ I've seen stills from their mv and looking good. I swear these guys don't age. :)

P.S. I wonder if the members had girlfriends at the moment, or someone they're interested in. Rather than being jealous and possessive about them having girlfriends, I've been thinking that they should seriously settle down and find someone special~ :P They seem to be good father-material anyway.

Starbucks drinks that I've drank

Recently, I've been frequenting to Starbucks to do my assignments or hold meetings with my group members. I'm not really a big fan of coffee but seeing so many coffee lovers here in Penang, and the fact that there was no Starbucks in Brunei, I just had to try Starbucks (being an international brand and all that) and also trained to acquire a taste in coffee. So far, I had tried:

1. Iced Caffe Mocha - This was the first drink that I ever ordered from Starbucks. For a non-coffee drinker like me, the slight bitter taste of the coffee was too much for me to bear, but eventually, I was ok with it. Would definitely ordered it again in the future.

2. Iced Green Tea Latte - My ultimate favourite Starbucks drink! I was checking out the reviews of this drink online and most of the reviews were negative. So I guess this is based on personal preferences. It's a bit too sweet but I still love it all the same~

3. Hot Green Tea Latte - Disgusting. I would never order it hot ever again. -_-

4. Hot Caramel Macchiato - Yummy! I was quite hesitant to order it because of the caramel. I'm not the biggest fan of caramel, but then my friends had recommended this drink so I thought, I should just try it. Well, it was really yummy! The caramel was not too overpowering and sweet, it actually complemented the drinks really well! Definitely going to order this drink on my next trip to Starbucks.

So far, these were the only drinks I ordered from Starbucks. I'm planning to try most of the drinks in the menu, especially Java Chip Frappucino. But for now, my favourite drinks are Green Tea Latte and Caramel Macchiato~

All the images in this post were from Google Image.

2012 CHALLENGE 1: I want to read 10 books this year!

I had been procrastinating way too long. It's time for me to get more organized and gain control of my ever-spiraling life! I shall call this the great 2012 CHALLENGE!!! I shall make a series of challenges with their own themes and I shall review on my progress and result once completed. My first challenge is dedicated to my hobby: reading.

I have been buying too many books yet I never really had the time to sit back, relax and read. I have given myself too many excuses, like I'm too tired, assignments, research, chores, back-pain (o.O)... Well, GOODBYE EXCUSES IT'S TIME TO FACE ON THE CHALLENGE!!!

For the very first time since I made my Shelfari account, I just realized that we're able to set a reading goal. LOL! Epic fail for just realizing this now. I've set my goal to read 10 books this year. Considering the fact that I'm a degree student now, and assignments and presentations predominantly ruled my life, I dare not set a higher target. I may amend my goal if I've completed it.

I'm planning to make few others challenges but not too many, maybe just two or three more.

Till then!