The Chronicles of Becoming a Shinhwa Changjo

This is a repost, with some edits, from my Shinhwa Tumblr post. Since I actually have a bit of time, this will be my tribute post to Shinhwa's 15th Anniversary.

So, this post is basically about how I first became a Shinhwa fan in 2006 and eventually became an official Shinhwa Changjo.

I first became a K-pop fan in 2005 thanks to the influence of my friends. They were all so crazy about DBSK at that time, which, naturally, I came to like too. In fact, they were my first K-pop bias. I initially thought they were the first ever Korean celebrities I ever liked, but then, at that time, I didn't know BoA was Korean (I was just a 13 year old kid with no access to Internet at home). I initially thought she was Japanese because I only listed to her Japanese songs at that time. So, realistically, BoA was the first ever Korean celeb I liked, and DBSK is my very first K-pop bias that turned me into a K-pop fan.

Fast forward to 2006, my friends kept finding new K-pop groups to listen to (they changed their bias groups quite frequently (-_-), from Super Junior, to Big Bang, then F.T. Island, then sometimes went back to Super Junior). I remembered at that time, my friends downloaded and were watching a show called "Battle Shinhwa". My friends were more interested in the contestants, especially the would-be members of Battle. I, on the other hand, became more interested in the Shinhwa members instead, specifically Andy. After all these years, I still remember this scene very clearly. It's the part where Andy called Minwoo and Hyesung during his break from his drama filming, and Hyesung called him Kiwi Prince and just kept on cursing throughout the whole phone call. LMAO! (Anyone interested, here's the link~)

By that time, Andy became my bias in Shinhwa. He's just so adorable. He was the only member I liked and bother to care for at that time. For some unknown reason, I really disliked Junjin a lot last time. I thought he was too cocky. I don't extremely hate him to the extent of being his anti-fan, but I just dislike him. I also thought Minwoo was a bit cocky. (Forgive me as I was then a young, naive and thoughtless 14 year-old kid)

I began to look for their songs so I requested my friends to give me any Shinhwa songs they had and also bought their albums (6th and 8th album), which are, pirated. (-_- It's really hard to find original albums in Brunei at that time, not so sure about now). Some of the Shinhwa songs that I really liked back then were Shout, Perfect Man, Brand New and most of the songs from the 6th and 8th album. I was totally in a fangirl-craze mode when it came to Andy. I kept refreshing his Soompi thread (good old days), saving pictures of him in my phone and basically daydreaming about him (lol). However, after a few months, I became less fanatic and returned back to DBSK. Funny thing was that whenever I'm through with any new K-pop bias, I will always return back to DBSK. It's safe to say I stayed very devoted to DBSK for many years.

Even though I wasn't that crazy about Andy anymore, I still enjoyed and regularly listened to Shinhwa songs as well as followed most of their news. After Andy, I began to like another member, Shin Hyesung. The main reason why I loved him: his angelic voice. It's so soothing, he definitely deserves to be called as the ballad prince. One of my favourite Hyesung songs is 그대라서 (Because of You). Hopefully he'll do more soft rock/rock ballad type of songs in his future solo albums. It suits him.

Throughout the years I had a few new K-pop group biases, most notably SS501 and 2PM. I finally had access to Internet in my home during these times and my fangirlism went on a whole different level. Between those years, around 2008, I ended up watching a then-new variety show, We Got Married. I watched it because my friend recommended this show to me. Plus, Andy's in it. Initially, I thought I would be so insanely jealous of Solbi for being paired up with Andy. Surprisingly, I really liked this couple a lot and actually wished them to end up together in real life. There was one episode where the rest of the Shinhwa members made an appearance. I remembered it was on their concert day. GOODNESS THAT WAST THE MOST HILARIOUS PART IN WGM HISTORY LOL! I was literally lmao with their antics. XD I think it was this part that kind of reignited my love for Shinhwa. I began searching some of their videos in Youtube, most notably Intimate Note and also one of their most famous, craziest interviews ever (Link! XD) Seriously, it's the most epic interviews. Definitely must watch.

As I grew older and finished high school, news of DBSK's lawsuit emerged and only 3 members, not all 5, left SM. DBSK was my first love (err, in a fangirl type of feeling, not real life... I'm not delusional okay) and they always said that they're going to be together forever. So, I couldn't help but felt extremely betrayed by the two members that stayed in SM. I have a strong dislike towards SM the company due to many reasons. When the issue first broke out and the months went by, I began to lose hope of DBSK ever becoming 5 ever again. By that time, I stopped listening to any new K-pop songs as I absolutely lose interest in K-pop. That was, until 2PM came along and I turned back to K-pop again. Long story short, I began liking 2PM when Jay's controversy came out and he withdrew from 2PM and went back to U.S. (so it was during September, I think). I really believed their bonds and when 2PM made lots of promises about Jay coming back to them several months later. However, during that fateful conference in February (I think, or was it in March? O.o), they made a complete 360 degree transformation and badmouthed Jay so much that I felt it was really despicable. I never felt so betrayed by a group before, not even DBSK's case. From then on, I took a long hiatus from the K-pop world. That betrayal, and the fact that there was too many rookie groups debuting just made me extremely turned off from K-pop. I think one of the reasons I'm so invested in K-pop groups is their bonds. So, whenever they broke their promise of staying together, I felt extremely betrayed.

Nevertheless, whenever there's news of the Shinhwa members being released from the army, I was so delighted and was constantly amazed at that fact that 2 years didn't really felt that long. ^_^ I also remembered clearly of the news of Shinhwa Company, and the creation of their Twitter, which I immediately followed. So, no matter what, I still felt attached to Shinhwa, though not in an intense way.

Fast forward to 2012, March. News of Shinhwa's comeback emerged. I was really looking forward to it and thought of watching some of their old videos in Youtube. Without knowing it, I spent the entire day watching tons of their old videos, including their infamous crazy interview. Even after so many years, that video never fails to crack me up so hard. XD I then watched their first ever variety show after 4 years hiatus, Win Win. Then, I visited their Soompi thread. Day by day, the number of videos I watched increased and my interest in Shinhwa grew again. I remembered thinking to myself, "Oh shit, am I going to go through the whole intense fanatic fangirlism process AGAIN?! AM I FALLING FOR SHINHWA, ALL OVER AGAIN?!"

The answer?

YES! I AM DEFINITELY IN LOVE WITH THEM AGAIN! And it isn't like last time, when I just like one member, BUT ALL 6 OF THEM! Even Junjin, whom I used to dislike so much. Guess I wasn't able to truly see their true self. =P

So, I began to intensely follow their news in Twitter, constantly refreshing the Shinhwa tag in Twitter, saving pics, bookmarking tons of things about them in Chrome (way too much, I haven't even tackle them till this day >.<), downloaded and watched all of the shows they appeared in (I even downloaded the Chinese subs, which I tend to avoid due to my absymal Chinese), immediately downloaded their 10th album upon its release (in fact, due to my impatience, I actually listened to the preview of their album in various Korean music sites. Yes, I was that desperate). It's upsetting that I didn't own a credit card (at that time, now's a different case heh). I would have bought their albums immediately. I did end up buying their 10th album Asia Edition though. Good thing it was so in Penang. Phew~ :)

It's been a year since their comeback. Shinhwa just held their 15th Anniversary concert in Seoul (while me twisting in jealousy at all the updates). Still haven't download all their fancams as I'm currently still rushing my assignment. >.< OTL Though my fangirlism isn't that fanatic everyday, somehow I felt really comfortable loving Shinhwa this way. I do think of them constantly but not so fanatically. It's almost like they're some friendly existence to me, where I care so much for their well-being. Kinda like being in an old married couple relationship type of feeling. If that makes any sense lol.

Though I had turned my back on most of my previous biases (especially 2PM, but I have no regrets for that), I think, no, I'm SURE that I would be a Shinhwa Changjo for life. Out of all the groups that made promises, I know that Shinhwa will always be the only group that will forever keep their promise. Now, I only hope for the ajusshis to quickly find their other halves and get married and have kids. Come on Shinhwa, you guys aren't young anymore. >.< Though, I'm expecting that Shinhwa is gonna drop some bombs this year. =P Maybe one or two members. I do wish either Dongwan or Andy to get married first though. Dongwan and Andy as first choice, then maybe Eric since he seems quite a family man. That, and the fact he left the concert venue with a lady in his arms is making the possibility of him getting married first higher. :P

Last but not least, Shinhwa, I love you so much. ^_^ Please stay healthy and live long lol.

Happy 15th Anniversary, Shinhwa

Today marks Shinhwa's 15th Anniversary. It's been 15 long years, a significant number, a great achievement made by any Korean group. Though I wasn't with them since the beginning, but I shall walk down the road with Shinhwa till my last breath.

2 Ma Luv... the 6 Perfect Man: Eric Mun Jung Hyuk, Lee Min Woo, Kim Dong Wan, Shin Hye Sung / Jung Pil Kyo, Jun Jin / Park Choong Jae and Andy Lee Sun Ho, I love and will always love you guys.

Shinhwa and SHCJ, 2gether 4ever. :)

Pictures credit to SHINHWA COMPANY OFFICIAL WEBSITE and mine (2nd pic).

P.S. Couldn't prepare much to celebrate Shinhwa's anniversary this year as I'm currently rushing my assignment. T_T Shall prepare cake or cupcakes next year. ^^ Or oranges. Or any food that is in orange colour lol.

Food for Thought: Discrimination

I do not understand why some people can discriminate other people just because of their race or religion. Looking at the behaviour of my aunts, as well as comments from various social network service, frankly speaking, I think it's stupid to stereotype people or race due to certain happenings in the past, or as a result of the stupidity of certain prominent people, like politicians.

Is it really necessary to hate on someone just because of his or her race, or even religion? Whatever happens to mutual respect? We, humans, are said to be the more intelligent species living on the face of the Earth. Yet, looking at the behaviour and action of certain people in the society made me think twice. There's no intelligence in such behaviour, nor even rationality.

I remember reading an article about this Korean show called Healing Camp and how one of the hosts, Lee Kyung Kyu, actually researched about homosexuality for Hong Suk Chun (who was known to be the first Korean celebrity to come out of the closet). Lee Kyung Kyu himself was initially strongly against Hong Suk Chun's appearance on the show due to his own beliefs (as he was from the older generation of Korean people) and also other factors such as unintentionally hurting Hong Suk Chun by bringing up past painful memories. However, in the end, he relented as he believed that the show 'Healing Camp' should be able to handle any subjects of whatsomatter. Hence, he learned more about homosexuality so that he could understand Hong Suk Chun and will be able to conduct the interview in a professional manner, without unintentionally offend him. Full article here.

Lee Kyung Kyu's action is really applaudable. He was still able to conduct the interview in a professional and respectful manner, despite the fact that his beliefs have not changed. And this is what I think people should do more. It is understandable that people have different opinions and beliefs, which they have the right to think so, since they firmly believe on it. Some people may not be able to accept homosexuality or dislike other people due to their race or religions. However, no matter how much you mistreat gay people or people of other races, they will still exist in this world and also in our society. You may have to even interact with some of them due to certain circumstances. It would have been better if people actually learn to tolerate this reality and not mistreat or insult those people. Then, our society will be able to progress on another level. Because, in the end of the day, regardless of our race, religion, skin colour or even sexual orientation, aren't we all just the same human beings, living in this world?

Happy Chinese New Year 新年快乐, 蛇年行大运!

It's finally the time of the year for the biggest celebration for the Chinese people: Chinese / Lunar New Year! This year is the year of the Snake and living in an island vastly populated by Chinese people means there's a lot of red all over. In fact, yesterday evening was the first time I ever see Penang so empty as all the Chinese people went back to their homes for the reunion dinner.

Well, hopefully the year of the Snake will be a good year to me. Everyone, 新年快乐! :)

Movie Review: The Tower (타워)

Disclaimer: This movie review may contain spoilers. Please take note.

Plot: The Tower (타워) is a Korean disaster movie about how a luxury skyscraper (known as Sky Tower) caught fire in the eve of Christmas and the struggle of the people, both the victims and the firefighters, trying to survive and escape from the skyscraper. Officially released on Christmas Day in 2012, The Tower was directed by Kim Ji Hoon and starred Sol Kyung Gu, Kim Sang Kyung and Son Ye Jin as the leading roles.

Thoughts: I actually had no initially idea on who were the main leads for this movie so I was pleasantly surprise to see Son Ye Jin in this movie. Being an avid fan of K-dramas, I could recognize almost all of the key casts in this movie, such as Kim In Kwon, Lee Han Wi, Kim Sung Oh (haven't seen him since Secret Garden), Park Cheol Min, Cha In Pyo, Jung In Ki and even Hyun Young (honestly, you can never miss her iconic voice).

Though this movie is primarily about escaping the Sky Tower and the disaster that commences, this movie manages to add in a bit of humour (especially scenes pertaining to In Gun, the assistant chef, as well as the Christian group), slight melodrama, emotional familial ties and sacrifices. I do think one main difference between Korean and American movies is that Korean movies are able to execute the emotional scenes much better. You have the main character, a single father who fears for the safety of his daughter and loved ones, and had to undergo the painful possibility of being separated from them; you have the old lady cleaner, whose only wish is to hand over the money she painstakingly earned for her son's tuition fee; the captain of the firefighter, who finally realised that at the very end, he has to sacrifice his life to save the lives of the rest of the people (I honestly was on the verge of bawling in the cinema at this particular scene, when he recorded a voice message for his wife at the very end). It is possibly the most heart-wrenching and emotional moment in the entire movie.

The CGI and the visual effects of the movie are quite well done and realistic in my opinion. I think the director used a blend of CGI and real life action to execute some of the scenes in the movie. The actors and actresses did their job quite well, though there wasn't any particularly strong performances. The plot and script is passable, not particularly bad yet not particularly spectacular.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend this movie as it is one of the better disaster action movies I had seen so far.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10. :)

Movie Review: The Guillotines (血滴子 / Xie Di Zi)

Today, I went to hang out with my friends at Gurney Plaza. On deciding which movies to watch, where the choices are either Les Misérables, The Guillotines or Upside Down. Personally, I would definitely go for Les Misérables. However, I do know that my friends wouldn't like that movie, so I just went with the majority votes, which was The Guillotines.

Disclaimer: This movie review contains spoiler. Please take note.

Plot: The Guillotines (血滴子) is a Cantonese wuxia film directed by director Andrew Lau. Starring Huang Xiaoming, Shawn Yue, Ethan Juan, Li Yuchun, Jing Boran, Stephy Tang, Li Meng, Pu Bajia, Jimmy Wang Yu and King Shih-Chieh, this film is about a secret elite assassination squad known as the Guillotines that serves the Chinese Emperor to defeat anyone who defies him. One of their missions is to kill Wolf, the main figure and leader of the revolt done by the Han Chinese. Little did they know, that the current Emperor, Emperor Qian Long, plans to dissolve the Guillotines and replaces them with the firearm squad, which uses guns and cannons adopted from the West, and this may be their last ever mission.

Thoughts: Simply put, I was not impressed by this movie. In fact, throughout the movie, the many negative thoughts lingered in my mind. Honestly, I had way too many things to comment about.

First, the movie is about the Guillotines and the fearful weapon that functions as a flying guillotine, which has the ability to be sling around, encloses around the victim's head and lastly, beheads the victim. The opening sequence is definitely fancy, showing how lethal the weapon is. And apparently, according to Wikipedia's synopsis (though I had no recollection of this being mentioned in the film), the Guillotines never failed in their 348 missions. So, what actually went wrong in this film? I mean, these 7 members are highly trained assassins, why not utilise those formidable weapons throughout the course of the film? The only moment we got to truly see the flying guillotines made into good use was during the opening sequence. That's it. I did recall that it's been mentioned that the weapon can't be used during daylight so that may be part of the reason. So, why not made some ambush or stealth actions during the night then? Ridiculous. These people were skilled assassins. 3/4 of the movie seemed to destroy their reputed notoriety.

Second, it's a wuxia film but most of the action scenes were done during the opening sequence and the last major battle only. I suppose this film is more about loyalty, brotherhood as well as the character development and emotional growth of Leng, the leader of the Guillotines, who also happened to be one the two specially picked people (the other was Hai Du) and the Emperor's most trusted people. I had much things to complain about his character. He's too soft, cried incessantly and brooded rather than took any action. All I could remember about Leng was the amount of tears (and snots) he shed throughout the course of the film. It's okay for his character to cry, but not all the time. He's the leader of the top assassins, he should be made of tougher stuff. As he watched the deaths of his comrade, one by one, I would have thought he'd finally cut out the crying and became motivated for revenge. Okay, maybe not revenge, at least become more cool-headed. Tsk.

I ended up more looking forward towards Wolf's scenes and the unfolding of his story. And I was much more emotionally affected by his crying scenes, where you could actually feel a hint of hopelessness and burden of shouldering the promises of peace that he had made to too many people. His character was much more pitiable than the rest of the main cast's characters. It's interesting how they made his character looked messiah-like.

The CGI was passable, though absolutely unrealistic at certain parts. Too unrealistic that I almost burst out laughing at the absurdity in the cinema (which, of course, I didn't, seeing as that everyone were pretty serious). For instance, the part where Hai Du pushed Leng off the cliff in rage, the way Leng fell was too fake, too much like how a rag doll would fall. Next, the opening sequence which showed the function of the flying guillotines were a bit too over the top, showing way too much details on how the flying guillotine actually worked. Additionally, at the last major battle, when the cannon shot over the air and onto the village, the way those cannon shots flew through the air was way too pretty. I would had been immensely impressed weren't it for the fact that those cannon were supposed to destructive. The way they shot through just caused me to unable to take those scenes quite seriously.

In short, the plot is uninteresting, acting performance by the actors and actresses are passable, nothing remarkable but not too bad as well. There were some good points, such as the scenery (absolutely breathtaking) and the score. What this film lacked the most would be kick-ass actions just like the opening sequence. Take out the talking, tears (and snots) and put in more action, this film would have done much better.

Overall rating: 2/10

Last day of 2012, Page 366 of 366

Page 366 of 366, the end of a chapter in my book. I shall make the best of 2013, instead of wishfully expecting 2013 to be good to me. :)

It's been a busy year, yet I don't feel like I'm actually enjoying my life for this year. It seems that everything is stagnant and monotonous. Therefore, I shall try to change that in the new year with a set of goals that (hopefully) can be achievable by the end of 2013. Cheers everyone and happy holiday~

The day has come... And Happy (冬至) Winter Solstice Festival Everyone~!

So, it's finally 21/12/2012. THE DAY! As expected, all sorts of social media are being annoying (Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr to name a few) and my day has passed by quite uneventfully. I shall await for the next doomsday date. Hah!

Anyways, today is 冬至. In English, it's called Winter Solstice Festival and is one of the most important festivals in the Lunar Calendar. To celebrate this festival, families usually gather together to roll glutinous balls called tang yuan. It's made of glutinous rice flour that is slightly mixed with water, which are then rolled into tiny balls and boiled in a sweet broth. My aunts boiled them in a sweet broth mixed with pandan leaves and ginger. Tang yuan can be filled or unfilled and also of any sizes, depending on personal preferences. You can also add food colouring to the tang yuan. My family made them in 5 colours: red, yellow, orange, green and brown. Somehow, I'm still not sure why, but my aunts insisted that during the first time we eat tang yuan on Dong Zhi, we have to eat it by the order of red, yellow, orange, green and lastly, brown. Then, we can eat any colours we want. I'm not sure if any other people did such practice as well. The way I see it, everyone just made tang yuan in any colours they want. I mean, I've seen people posted pictures of the tang yuan they made in blue and purple colours too.

Well, congratulations to everyone who survive doomsday, and let's try to survive the next one. Also, a very Happy 冬至 to everyone.

P.S. Pottermore's first 7 chapters of Prisoner of Azkaban has been released yesterday. I personally think there's too little moments in most of the chapters. But still, do have fun finding things. :)

Aeschylus Quoted in Robert F. Kennedy's Speech

I was reading a book Great Speeches: Words that Shaped the World by Edward Humphreys and John Boyes this afternoon. While skimming through, I found the speech that Robert F. Kennedy made on Martin Luther King's death. It's quite an inspiring speech, which talks about peace and equality. In his speech, Kennedy quoted Aeschylus.  His version:

Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget

falls drop by drop upon the heart,

until, in our own despair,

against our will,

comes wisdom

through the awful grace of God. 

 

 

 

Freedom at last!!!

I am now finally, truly, free from coursework and exam for the year 2012!!! A great burden has been lifted from my shoulder and now I can freely do whatever I want~! There has been so many things that I want to do that I don't even know where to start. ._.

Obviously, since 2012 is coming to an end quite soon (I'm not talking about 21/12/12), I am unable to complete those challenges I had proposed few months ago. Never mind. I intend to have a fresh start next year (yeah, I always say that). Hopefully I can catch up all those Shinhwa stuff I intend to save before their next year's comeback. And so many K-dramas to watch! Argh so much thing to do, so little time. ._.