5 months compressed update. lol.

Its been too long since I posted. So much has happened since...

Last I posted, SNSD's subgroup TTS just appeared, and made a strong showing with their album :)

I still love Twinkle a lot :)

SNSD has since had their 5th anniversary, and released 2 new songs ^.^

5th Anniversary Commemoration Video

by Soshified

Great work!! O.O

Paparazzi MV

They look good even when they're dancing in dish washing gloves! >.<

All My Love Is For You MV

Been waiting for this kind of song for the longest time...

Oh! is now released in Japan, and Taeyeon has a new single (drama OST) for To The Beautiful You.

Oh! Japanese Ver.

Seohyun is too cute here! *buing buing* >.<

Closer on Inki

Omo Taeyeon y.u.so.pretty. :P

Nice song :) Also been waiting for a long time for a new OST single from her...

To The Beautiful You has ended as of this week... haha. It features a lot well known idols, like Minho from ShiNee and Sulli from f(x). Sulli sang Peach during the drama! Shall try to watch it some time, or at least that part. Peach was written with Sulli in mind after all~~ keke.

Taeyeon also made a reappearance on Running Man!

Ep 112!

Watch the full ep on kshownow.net!

It was kind of funny watching her run. Its like pretty well known that she has the worse stamina, even among all the gg members, and she's actually participating in Running Man. lol dorky tae.

Side tracking slightly, Gary very nearly left Running Man!!! Omg! Haha I like Gary's character a lot. More so than Guang Soo, or Big Nose Hyung, or even the Commander. The Commander's really poor thing in this episode though. You'll see...

SNSD's having a Japanese comeback with "Flower Power" mid Nov! (14th Nov) last I heard. Looking forward to that.

IU hasn't been laying low either.

She's had a really successful run doing her first concert tour 'Real Fantasy' across S.Korea. It was so successful LOEN planned an encore concert! :)

Photo time! :D

This well... lasted... all the way till now. lol.

While IU and SNSD's been doing well, T-ara hasn't.
While both SNSD and T-ara celebrated their 5th and 3rd anniversary respectively, the atmosphere in both camps were a vivid contrast to each other. SNSD's was a picture of joy and appreciation, while T-ara plunged into a controversy of bullying and backstabbing.
In their official statement, CCM claimed Hwayoung misbehaved really badly (refused to perform due to injury and throwing tantrums), so much so that they kicked, yes KICKED her out of T-ara. Fans (or Antis, depending on who you believe) drew a different picture though. They claim Hwayoung has been thoroughly bullied by the other members, and so the one at fault should not be Hwayoung, and instead the other T-ara members. The "evidence" dug out severely damaged T-ara's rep, and many of the remaining members suffered as a result. They were pulled from CFs, dropped from dramas, lost some 6000 fans, and even had to postpone their concert due to people returning their tickets. The humiliation.

Later accounts however, seem to indicate that it was a severe mismanagement on the part of CCM's CEO Kim Kwang Soo. There existed a disagreement between the girls, but the intention had always been for resolution, and not expulsion. Along with news regarding how KKS his idols in check, or do horrible things such as wardrobe malfunctions by blackmail (such as keeping career ruining footage like Jiyeon's stripping vid and "accidently" leaking it to the public), KKS' actions after the revelation only made the controversy worse. A group was even established to find out the truth of the matter.

Its no wonder Davichi is leaving the first chance they have huh.

Summary of events here.

Both sides have since moved on though. Hwayoung has apologised for the distress she caused to fans and members, and has started on doing more rapping and music writing. T-ara, now a 8 member group (+Dani, Aerum, -Hwayoung) has produced 2 MVs, Day By Day and Sexy Love.

Day by Day MV

Featuring the 2 new girls... I didn't reaaaaallly like it :\

The drama thing didn't work for them this time.

Sexy Love comeback stage

The song sounded lame at first, but it sort of grows on you after awhile :)

Not a bad comeback afterall lol.

The controversy was so bad the members had to go into hiding at the time... Sexy Love's music programme performances were all filmed before hand, and even a written apology by the members couldn't appease the netizens. Poor Eunjung had an accident during this time, and some netizens had the nerve to speculate that it was staged -.-...

Though it wasn't doing so well at first, Sexy Love is rising on the charts, so hopefully T-ara would make a full recovery soon.

On my own end... my second year in Uni has started. I finally went to USS, and even won tickets to go there again. :) School's really tough, even though I thought this sem would be lighter already what with the softskill mod >.< But am grouped with Zhen Zhen, Farhan and Kathy, so I'm pretty happy, especially compared to last sem :\ Haha and I joined a kpop dance class to try things out :)

For now, though, think I'll end it here and type more in another post, another time... its getting late, and there is quite a bit to talk about after all. I am planning to starting to writing again, so cya all soon.

TTS Ownage Streak!

Ok short one, news on SNSD's TTS! As of today's win on Inkigayo, they've completed a super combo of 4 hat tricks! What's this? No they don't play soccer :P What I mean is they've completed triple crowns (3-in-a-row-wins) on all major music programs! 

TTS on Inkigayo!

Congrats to the girls! :) They've really worked hard... in addition to their promotions, they're currently doing their SMTown World Tour as well, and just last week there was that concert at google... It's amazing they're still so energetic and upbeat ^.^ Power too them all!

Speaking of being hard working, I read on the weheartiu that aside from preparations for her concert... ie prac dance, singing, special stages, covers etc, she's hard at work filming for her japanese mv for You and I. The filming started at night on the 25th, and went all through the night. When she last posted at 5am, and the sun was coming up, she was still filming... Haix. Even though I do study through the night sometimes... but to act, sing and dance throughout the night seems to be much harder don't you think? I'd probably get so grouchy I'd bite some fingers off... :\ IU gambatte-kudasai ne!

That's all for now... I'm supposed to sleep early... :\ Gonna receive my results tml... wish me luck...

Ray

Soshi VS IU on Music Bank! Sketchbook! T-ara's new song?

It's been awhile... I'm back in reservice, and I still have 16 days to go... 

I keep telling myself that I may be the crap-cleaner, but I needn't let myself feel that way for the whole thing... :\ Praying for a safe and uneventful 2 weeks.

To topic, I briefly saw this (the title) tweet by Squishyblob on my phone during the day and was dying to find out what it was about :P

When I finally got home (after an amazing evening hanging w bei, bear and jh :) we should totally go out more), I found out basically TTS' Twinkle mini-album and IU's "Spring of a Twenty year old" had a showdown on Music Bank! Haha so exciting!

120525 Music Bank Results Announcement!

Twinkle ended up winning in the end! By quite a margin too! :) The girls have worked really hard, promoting nearly daily on all the music shows! Its a job well done, and a win well deserved ^.^ Congrats!

Turns out it was actually a hat trick by TTS with their win tonight on Music Bank too, since they won on Show!Champion and M!Countdown as well. haha and this just adds more icing to the cake~~ Plus they've been winning for 3 consecutive weeks already! Touche! Take that you haters haha.

Cute msg from TTS after the performance, credit to Soshified.

“Twinkle~ Three consecutive weeks on first place!!Thank you very very much~!
We decided to take one trophy each!”

IU lost! Haha but considering she didn't promote at all, the fact that her album is competing head to head with Twinkle with such unbelievable statistics is in fact a statement of her popularity. It almost seems unfair even haha >.< 

Either way, I'm super happy! Haha 2 of the 3 kpop artists I'm supporting are pwn-ing the music shows for weeks on end! Keep it up!! :D

Some little things going on with IU! 

As I came home I managed to catch Squishy just as he/she was posting about IU's performance on YHY Sketchbook. As a result I finally managed (thank God for Squishy) to hear IU's 3 lvl note again live :) Though it was for a remixed ver. of Good Day. It's been too long since we heard it. I've always had the impression that such bypasses were kinda like... cheating. Though I'm also torn by the prospect of IU damaging her voice :\ It's a dilemma...

Good Day (Concert ver) on YHY's Sketchbook!

This ver sounded.... quite weird at first, but after watching the vid I was like "whoa this is awesome" :P Ah... wonder if I should dl and keep >.<

Song can also be heard here! :) 

Then there was something I felt was a little weird! 

IU dancing to Rainism!

My first thought actually wasn't "ahhh. she's improved hasn't she!" though I strongly feel that was the reaction IU had in mind when she took on this challenge, and I certainly did have that thought later on. Instead, I totally just thought... "she totally looks like Michael Jackson in that hair and glasses" -.- I wonder if that'd be a compliment for her or not? lol :P

Either way, I hope she doesn't go the way most idols do... :\ ie sing and dance is both emphasized. Dancing is fine and all, but frankly, IU isn't really that kind of idol. Focus on the voice please! >.<

IU performed Peach for the first time live during this show as well! Loving it to death ^.^

IU with Peach, live on YHY's Sketchbook!

I don't really know Korean, but apparently she changed the lyrics slightly during that ad lib portion, thus the huge reaction XD Gif translation here! Ah really love the song~~

Moving on... T-ara (kinda) suddenly released a song titled "Round and Round", with no prior promotion (there still isn't any now o.O) or noticeable announcement. And the song is kinda... meh.

T-ara - Round & Round

MV ver 1

MV ver 2

The song sounds like it's for the oldies... as in I feel that the older generation people would probably love it, but for T-ara's main fans... not so much. Which is kinda sad. :( They really need a new song already. You can only perform a song so many times before it kind wears out... and they seem to have been doing Roly Poly and Lovey Dovey since forever already...

Conspiracy me wonders if it's the same thing again... deliberately assigning/forcing crappy songs to be produced -> lower popularity... earlier this week apparently the 9th member, some 14yo girl was revealed to be the 9th member to join T-ara... and they're still saying that the additions have been revealed, but that there may still be internal movements :( Is this bullying I wonder... :( 

Conspiracies and unhappiness on the issue aside, isn't the 2nd MV just so much better? Pardoning the song, there're just sooooooooo many scenes of Jiyeon and Boram, it's making my heart throb >.< haha. I wasn't planning to keep it originally, but for Jiyeon, I just migh....

Alright it's been a long day. Though it's probably the best week in ages. USS with ben, gordon, sarah, yong jie (and later dinner with jeannel, zz, jt who joined later) last fri, read "Socrates meets Jesus" (ie personal time) on tues, badminton with hui lin on wed, talk n dinner with Emma on thurs, dinner with bei, bear, jh today, not to mention i hung with wei ming and jackie... I realise I've actually had a really good week (not to mention the stuff I have to blog about haha). Thank God ^.^

I really wanna meet fred, syl and zhi ying... it's been too long... 

Still looking for people to go to Carnivore with >.<

Bahh going to sleep :) I have to remember to post about the other 3 films too, on top of those other events :\

Goodnite!

Ray

haha song in is my head, of course... ^.^ 

IU - Every end of the Day/The Day's End

love the lively beat that's similar to Good Day

it's now my wake up alarm!

it literally gives me the strength to get out of the bed's morning-gravity-field 

and face the crap that will come as i trudge through reservice...

IU <3 ^.^

thx for energising me!

Things happening lately & IU's New Mini Album!

Ok first I'll share this first to get this over with. It's too cute to not share. :P



Love this to bits. :D

Ok next! In complete contrast, something quite horrifying that happened in Singapore lately.



Has all the elements of a drama. Society that's currently quite xenophobic, especially towards those from China at the moment, with a mini-election over the horizon. Rich China immigrant with a Ferrari dashes a red light, smashing into a cab. Kills the Singaporean cab driver, who is sole bread winner of a family with 3 children, as well as the Japanese passenger. The China immigrant also dies. As a side act, somebody robbed the dying Japanese lady after the crash.

Articles in Stomp. Original incident. Family and friends of the immigrant says this. Other opinions, here, here and here.

I wanna write a short reflection on the incident.

1. The Farrari driver is clearly in the wrong. He reached the junction 4 seconds after the red light came on. There is absolutely no excuse for his actions. He simply and clearly did not intend to stop. And no, don't even say the taxi driver wasn't careful. In his shoes, anybody else would also have died. The current system works because every driver trusts other drivers to follow the traffic rules. Additionally, the cab driver had no room to maneuver. So NO! The accident is in no way the fault of the cab driver, and responsibility rests solely on the Farrari driver's shoulders.

2. As one can see, the articles written on Stomp and TemasekTimes are completely biased (ie tends to wards raising a hoo-ha and anti-government respectively) and are of low quality. It worries me, cuz these two sites actually get a lot of traffic, and irresponsible reporting often leads to a lot of other bad shit. Not to mention the amount of critical thinking in the comments is really disturbing as well.

Why are they bad you ask? You want examples you say?

Count the number comments that bring in the Nationality and social status of the Farrari driver as a basis to insult him. How are these factors even relevant to his crime? Do only rich people cause traffic accidents? Do only China immigrants cause such traffic accidents? By all means accuse and rage, but kindly rage objectively, and factually.

Stomp titles their article such that it implies that the Farrari driver's family is rebellious and unremorseful for the actions of the Farrari driver, when it actuality, the family members are only protesting the irrelevant insults  and untruths projected on the Farrari driver. Further, the family of the Farrari driver also experienced a loss. The Farrari driver was dear to them as well. They would naturally be upset. Can they not protest? And wrong though the Farrari driver may be, it doesn't give us the right as observers to insult and "add charges" that are clearly irrelevant to begin with.

I can't even bother with the temasektimes... sigh.

3. Immigrants are not the enemy. They are people as well, and people who've had to leave their homes to make a living. Stop placing emphasis on irrelevant things and instead spend time on bettering one self.

4. Singaporeans are a loo...ong way off from being a gracious society. Sigh at the comments... and good lord for someone to even conceive stealing when the Japanese woman was dying -.-

Alright, after that bit of black stuff, I wanna rescue this post, so...



Cutie bomb!! XD

Ok back to IU!

IU's new album's been released! She's got a super long MV this time! It's nearly half and hr >.< keke

At the End of Each Day

Full MV

There's so much footage here of IU cuteness haha. Like it ttm :D

Song only MV :)

The song's really nice! It has the same feel as Good Day, and is really energising for me. Listening to it non-stop already :)

Just one question. WHO IS THE GUY!!!? (Rumor has it~~ It's just manager oppa XD)

I actually want to end this post already, but I'll give a bonus for this post! Delved into it kinda late but, it's still something crazy that happened. :)

Not subbed by me, just something I found. 23rd April episode of KBS Hello. The crazy stuff starts at around 6 mins.


[ENG] H3LL0 Part 1/6 by shiningsalamanders


[ENG] H3LL0 Part 2/6 by shiningsalamanders


[ENG] H3LL0 Part 3/6 by shiningsalamanders

Are you like that as well? :D

Cheers,

Ray

TTS Comeback & IU's Single! Also T-ara's Plight!

Exams are over!! Whoopie! And my first year in NUS has ended! It felt really fast~ And it has been a fruitful year :) Hope next year will be just as exciting and fun ^.^

Anyway, more happy news! ^.^ Its a great period for me keke~~

TaeTiSeo's Twinkle mini-album's released! It's really catchy! Haha it got stuck in my head after the first time, and I was unconsciously nodding my head to it.

Soooo sassy :P Taeyeon & Fany looks gorgeous in the vid~~ ^.^

I still think Seohyun looks rather awkward though. Like she doesn't really have the confidence to pull it off.

hmm.

One thing though... it was really obvious they were acting? Since it didn't really look like they were trying even when they were shooting those high notes... so much so that it wasn't believable :P

Happy for them that they totally topped the charts with their album upon release though ^.^

So then they performed on M!Countdown! And I was slightly disappointed, but above all quite... worried.

Twinkle on M!Countdown

Baby Steps on M! Countdown

Though it wasn't a bad performance as a whole, and Twinkle was alright, they didn't really pull Baby Steps off that well, though it's a nice song, but I kinda got bored. The dancers were really distracting... and they didn't really look all that confident.

Haha I would like to, at this point, point out the super manly fanchants xD

Also, totally could tell Taeyeon wasn't quite able to hit some of the notes and was pushing it, especially in Twinkle. She probably already strained her voice somewhat after this performance. It's quite worrying since they have a string of promotional performances coming up on the various music programmes like Inkigayo and Music Core... Not to mention Taeyeon would still be promoting her "Missing You Like Crazy"...

Check 2:43 for Baby Steps, 2:40 for Twinkle for an example...

Really just hope they'll take care of their voices yea...

Next, IU also just released her single "Peach" ahead of her mini-album! Another really well done song :) The lyrics are so cute keke... and I guess the guy fans can totally relate to the lyrics :P The tune's really nice and peaceful, and I'm really liking it :)

Peach - IU

The recorder tune's so nostalgic :) 

Haha so Peach also topped the charts. Like, totally topped it. #1 in all boards. And since we know no 2 songs can be "top" at the same time, it seems like at the moment IU has trumped SNSD lol. Kinda have mixed feelings about that haha >.< Hwaiting both of you XD

Looking forward to her full album release, as well as vids for her concert and birthday celebration :)

I also have something about T-ara! Haha as you all know after Heroes I'm also following Jiyeon. So I just found out there's an individual ver thing for their Roly Poly jap ver.

Roly Poly in Japanese - Jiyeon Ver.

Dies from cuteness overload XD

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! haha. Slightly upset that I can't find the dl for it hrmph. :P haha.

Hmm while I'm on the topic of T-ara, I'd like to say I'm really upset with their CEO. Read this.

If one follows T-ara, one would actually realise how busy they are every single day. There was this variety show that's like an expose of the daily schedules of the T-ara members, and they are just so very very busy. Its practically one schedule after another, and they only get something like 2-3 hrs of slp per day? When asked what they would do if they had a holiday, they actually said to just sleep and sleep some more :\ For girls at that age... kinda sad isn't it?

And yet the CEO keeps trying put pressure on them. I wouldn't mind if it's more schedules, since it is in their interest. But no. He announced an upcoming change to the group members of T-ara, claiming it would raise competition among the members and keep them on their toes, even threatening to say that if they become complacent any of the members could be removed. More recently, under the guise of "giving them a holiday", he sent T-ara "to help an upcoming girl group with their debut photoshoot". So after helping them... this upcoming girl group, apparently had the nerve to declare that they hope to beat T-ara. What kind of backing does one need to say that I wonder?

Yea frankly, they should just up the whole thing as a group and go elsewhere. This, _|_, is for the CEO. I just hope things will go more smoothly for them...

Oh last thing I wanna write about! I was watching Strong Heart, Ep23, and K.Will was featured as a guest. I've been wondering about him, and omg he sings so very very well. Totally recommend listening to his songs. I'm gonna go looking for his albums soon too :D

Haha well that's it for now :D Gotta start packing and move out of PGP! keke cya all soon!

More IU goodness :)

Just want to post a song today! More IU goodness that you can't find in any OST! 

Dreaming - IU - Dream High

Keke her voice is so nice I'd rather listen to her ver of "I need a boy" than Big Bang's >.<

Ah well... Back to studying! Last paper tomorrow >.< Wish me luck!

Twinkle! IU! And a bit of my own stuff.

SNSD's finally making a comeback with a subunit! The subunit's called TaeTiSeo, and the subunit is made up of Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun, ie the main vocalists of SNSD :)



Album cover! From left to right, Fany, Taeyeon, Seohyun. If you haven't guessed yet, the mini-album they're releasing is called Twinkle! :D

Frankly, it feels... kinda strange. Not that I'm disliking it... just not sure I like it yet :\ I could make out Seohyun (i'd be disappointed with myself if i didn't >.<), but I couldn't tell who was Tiffany or Taeyeon until I read the forum posts >.< In any case, aside from Tiffany, I feel the other two didn't turn out so well, Taeyeon especially... which is a pity since her vocals are amazing, and so I personally feel she should be given slightly more recognition than she is getting now :\ Guess I'll wait for the song...

More material! Teaser Trailers :)

Taeyeon's

Tiffany's

Seohyun's

Omg Kya material :P She looks kinda awkward though :\

Anyway their albums will be out on 2nd May! Looking forward to it! :D

Speaking of albums and comebacks, IU's also making a comeback in May! Totally looking forward to that too! :D It's a pity she wouldn't be doing any promotions via music programmes tho hmm so won't be seeing much footage despite her return to the Korean scene :\

Additionally, IU's also having her first concert, Korea tour (and 19th birthday i just found out! xD) in May! Randy managed to get tickets to the concert! Super envious :P Seems May will be a hectic month for her sia...

Hmm I was originally feeling kind of dark and angsty today, since once again the paper didn't really go as well as I would've liked it to, and the planning of an outing was unsuccessful as well... even though some of them had nothing better to do than to go home... >:( To top it off, was given the 爱理不理 treatment by somebody close despite sincerely trying to be helpful... Yea was really in a complaining mood. But after typing all that positive stuff above I'm feeling slightly better haha. Am I too simple minded? :P

Seriously though, I just want to say one thing. Is it too much to ask that I should want to be spoken nicely to? Especially when I'm actually going out of my way to help? Perhaps I'm too nice... nice to a fault, and I'm being made use of as and when said person, and all those like 'em, feel like it. I'm not someone you talk to as and when you feel like it, and ignore as and when you don't. Perhaps it's time I changed. Perhaps I shouldn't hold my tongue so much, and should instead just give them the good old bitch slap. Perhaps I should become meaner, and more jaded, so I can hurt them back without remorse....

Seems that maybe, there's some truth to the saying "jerks exist because women made them so" after all.

And after that short rant... I'm just gonna say, "damn it Jesus. This ain't easy."

Breaking out of that sour mood, I've been meaning to post this song since at least 3 weeks back already! Found a song by Taeyeon that's really addictive... I thought it was an old song, but apparently it's actually quite recent, and is only just starting to climb the music charts :\ Hope you enjoy it ^.^

Missing You Like Crazy - Taeyeon (SNSD)

Taeyeon's really amazing. Actually wanted to dedicate a post to her, but since I'm short on time... shall keep it short :) Hope her new album is received well!

Nites! :)

Sem 2 Finals are Starting...

Tired. As usual. And depressed.

My first exam this week turned out horribly... Once again banking on the bell curve...

Can only blame myself for that... What happened to being more disciplined this sem...

To add to my troubles, they're making us choose our specialisation now (wtf NUS? why during exams?)... I'm really not prepared to do that yet... The modules are becoming really tedious...

Is this really the path I want?

And then there's that thing with the YongSeo couple. I swear I'll never get myself attached to another of those couple gimmick things again. Beautiful though it may be if their relationship is true (BANMAL SONG!! T.T Find myself smiling or tearing every time I hear the song... Knowing the "true" story behind the song changes the significance of the song so much!), and damn I hope it is..., both the possibility of it being only make believe, and the cold termination and denial of the relationship at the end of the show if it is real, causes me way too much unnecessary distress...

Their lives have nothing to do with mine. I have to re-centre my life and tackle my own problems already...

That said. If it's real... Thank you for the good times...

The original video uploaded by the pair w eng subs...

Banmal Song - YongHwa (C.N.Blue) & SeoHyun (SNSD)

And the touching finale that nearly drove me insane...

To end off, the song that seems to have some relevance my current state of mind at present...

I'm a Loner - C.N.Blue

Dream High 2

Down with flu today. Went back to PGP to rest... am glad there's no more labs le...

Finished Dream High 2 on Monday...

Many people say that its not as good as the first one, and it's true. The ending especially left much to be desired :\ But it did have its moments.

I lol-ed when Jiyeon's character totally changed to her normal lively self that she showed in Heroes... total stark contrast to the Ri-an we've seen up till now haha...

I dunno how it is that things done in Korea, but i'm really sad the OST didn't actually contain some of the songs that were really well done. This kinda happened in Glee too... :(

One of the songs I really wish they released... and currently the song in my head:

Covered Up Road, covered by Hyorin (Sistar) and Kim Ji Soo, originally by Yoo Jae Ha

This was shown in ep 5, during the showcase...

It also brought me to this song:

Because I Love You by Yoo Jae Ha. This is the instrumental ver by a musician Kelvin Kern.

Hyorin has a really pretty voice. She kinda has a husky voice like mine. I could probably learn something from her.

Hyorin's version of A Goose's Dream. I first heard this in Dream High 1, and at that time it was covered as a duet by Suzy (Miss A) and Eun jung (T-ara), which sounded awesome too... but once again though... it wasn't in the OSTs... :(

Haha and just to support my bias... IU's ver of A Goose's Dream :P

IU's ver is generally well sung. In comparison, while Hyorin's is weaker at the lower notes, she does noticeably better than IU in the soaring portions... :)

Goose's Dream by Suzy and Eunjung. The one that wasn't in the Dream High 1 OST :\ Dissatisfied.

Shall end off with something that's nice and is actually on the OSTs... though not by Jiyeon or Kang Sora *pouts* Seriously la!! They should release it like they did Defying Gravity... have both Lea Michelle and Chris Colfer ver, as well as a duet ver :)

Hello to Myself by Ye Eun (Wonder Girls)

I'm thinking of seriously learning to sing... haha... should I?

Ray

End of Heroes

Just had the busiest week ever. Nearly every day oso chionging something :\
oh well... kinda used to it alr :P

Anyway! I finished watching SBS Heroes! This is like old news, since I didn't really have time to do this stuff last week :\ 40 episodes of tears and joy, and unfortunately it has come to an end...

**Long post warning. Stop reading if you're not interested in hearing about how much I like this show =P**

Heroes Ep 40 [END] Trailer:

The best clip i could find without having to post the whole episode to make my point...

Cried me a river of tears argh TT TT Seeing Jiyeon so sad made me tear even harder :( For some reason it had low ratings in Korea, even though till now, many people overseas are looking for a good translation of it to watch. And the people currently subbing them are sooo cui... urg. Glad I could understand chinese... I actually watched the last 15 eps or so in chinese... am actually considering helping to translate from chinese to english.... if i wasn't so bz lol.

The episodes in chinese are all available on dailymotion! under the name 英雄豪杰 if ppl wan to find! :D

Gee I'd really like to download the full set and keep it if I could... but there're no good raws, nor are there complete english subs yet. Not to mention some of the english subs are so bad one probably couldn't understand them -.-

I've really come to like the different stars in the show. Most of them anyway. haha... in the words of those who've been in the kpop scene for way longer than i have, i've gotten a bias. Or rather a few biases :P
Totally fallen for IU, Jiyeon and Yoo Inna now :D All of them are so great and talented in their own way...



From the left:
IU in a maid outfit during a really tough episode where they ran a charity restaurant.
That memorable moment where Jiyeon accidently poured wayy too much salt into a kimchi soup :P
Yoo Inna in the episode where they prepare a wedding for the couple. Lucky guy~~ :\

More pics:

IU getting the opportunity to kiss her long time ideal type, Taeyang from Big Bang while performing "I need a Girl" in one of the earlier eps.

even i went kyaaa~~ when i saw this... lol!

PRETTY MAXXXX!! =D

Ahh good times :P haha couldn't resist posting these when i found them while i was looking for pics to post.

Oo oo! One more!

In na's acting is amazing! haha and Jiyeon's just so adorabe :P

Back to topic, I really like Narsha and Nicole as well. Along with IU, they're the few who're consistently really diligent with their tasks :)

Nicole scalding her fingers while fry Pork Cutlets in the restaurant episode. She was the only one in the group who willingly and diligently took up this role, despite the risks to her as an idol.

The para from this blogpost totally describes the situation:
Quote"

Nicole in particular stood out from her teammates as her tireless work ethic drove her on to work hard to complete her task; she concentrated so furiously on frying the meat properly that she didn’t even rest, despite the fact that the task took up hours. Whenever she made a minor mistake, she would immediately apologize and attempt to remedy the situation.

Viewers were especially impressed with how wholeheartedly Nicole threw herself into her work, without a single care for sullying her pretty idol image. She was often seen furrowing her brows or cringing as she concentrated on her station. Nicole even burned her hand at one point after quickly picking up a piece of meat that had just been fried, due to the delay in orders going out.

Although those around her worried by asking if she was okay and told her to take a break by washing her hands, Nicole said that she was okay and continued working in her station.

Viewers left glowing responses to her work ethic with, “Nicole really was working hard. She wasn’t like an idol at all,” “I saw how genuine Nicole was, I was almost upset for her,” and “It must’ve been hard staying in front of the hot oil like that all day, she’s amazing.”

Although Nicole had oil splattered all over face, her hair in a tangled mess, and her hand was burnt, viewers were moved by how much more beautiful she was there by the deep fryer than on stage.
"
Pity she kinda disappeared due to some problems with her company at the later parts of the series...

Couldn't find the one on Narsha... but it was the reporter episode :\ anw, instead i'll put something cute :P

What happened earlier...

Hmm next... I didn't really like them at the start of the series, since they were like "oh i'm big shit since i'm a senior" and stuff... but I've new found respect for Shin Bong-sun and Noh Sa-yeon, who both took really hurtful remarks and results in stride. They've also shown to really care for their fellow actors in the series, especially in the last few episodes. Bong-sun was also a really superb restaurant manager during that charity restaurant episode. Pleasant surprises :)

Likewise although they didn't really stand out at the beginning, I found Hong Soo-ah and Kahi to be really likeable, Soo-ah especially for her sunshine personality and straight forwardness.


A picture with Jiyeon... She's kinda clumsy, but she's really nice and easy to get with :)



Haha funny pic during the ep where they visited the zoo. Soo-ah got the shudders when the giraffe licked her :P

Might post the vid later since I can't find it at the moment, but Soo-ah gave me strong impressions in the episodes where she lectured the high schoolers, as well as the "Make your own short film" episode.

As for Kahi, I've only got one thing to say: "DAEBAK!!!" XD

...And once again I can't find a vid or a pic :\ she had this really funny tone and look when she says "Daebak". It feels something like a moooooo =P Haha... Soo ah did a really funny imitation of her in one of the eps... and she has this really funny habit of falling asleep when she isn't on camera =D

Hurr... At this point i might as well make a post for all the heroes don't you think =P

Hmm anyway I'm ending off le :P I just want to say something about Seo In Young, who changed soooo much since the pilot ep.
At the beginning of the show, she was this really strong, outspoken and uptight character, who'd show off when the situation is to her favour, and scowl or glare in a really obvious manner when it's not. The other stars in general were kinda afraid of her, and well, frankly I didn't think much of her either.
Her relationship with the stars didn't really improve until the episode where the stars planned a birthday party for her. In order to make sure she doesn't notice, they behaved in a really mean way towards her. Skipping the details of how... they were so "successful" that at some point she was on the verge of crying, and actually thought "ahh... i really am the worst right..." So to salvage the situation (they didn't think it'd actually turn out like that) they kind of sidetracked her to think they were planning a party for one of the MCs, who was getting married at the time, and found some excuse to hide her in the closet, before preparing frantically for her surprise.
After some delaying tactics (skillfully done by MC Hong Chul and Shin Bong sun :) ), they sprung it on her!



One of the most touching moments of the show i feel... She said afterwards that she was actually really upset and had thoughts about quitting because she couldn't get along with the members... but from then on the members became really close... and was more open to messing around with the rest of the members.

At that point I felt I could really relate to her. As people, most of us have an image, or a certain dignity we want to maintain. We want to look cool, and stay away from embarrassing situations. What more a star like her, who prides herself in being an idol who's cool, independent and feminine at the same time. As a result of this desire, we sometimes come off as boring, uptight or unfriendly. But in the end really, we're just socially awkward people who would like to fit in, but just don't know how...

Haha but after that, i feel that she's just that much cooler, because in spite of all that she went along with the show's gimmicks... her favorite catchphrase "This is not my style!" also becomes so much funnier :)

Maybe sometimes giving up something small, we gain so much more huh :)

Alright. It's been a really long post. I doubt anybody read it to the end, if anybody reads this at all haha.
If you haven't guessed it yet, yes I'm gonna say this here too!

PLS WATCH IT!! :D

... I'll really miss them :(

hehe... goodnite :)

+1

5 more mins to go...

Anticipating it but suppressing it.

It'll probably be quiet.

I'll make my wish now, that they may come true...

1. I wanna be a better person. One who can see deeper into issues, and be capable and strong enough to be decisive... to be able and willing to make the right choice, regardless of the consequences.
2. I want to live. I want the days of my life to be packed with activities that I enjoy from now on. To find the thing that I love most, and push through with it, and find the pinnacle. I want to look back at the end of my life and say, "I love the life I've lived, and I wouldn't have led it any other way."
3. I want to be someone who's more willing to cherish and show appreciation, especially to my family, to my aunt and uncles, to the friends who've stood by me.

That I'd do all this as one with Christ.

As a lol, I'll put in a 4th :P

haha...

And... Happy Birthday Mom! Its a miracle that we're born on the same day! Haha... you won't read this, but thanks so much for all the things you've done for me... for not giving up on me despite how impossible I can be sometimes. Pls stay healthy, and be sure to watch me. I'll definitely become someone you can be proud of. :)

To end off... a nice rendition by Jay Chou... just in case...




G.nite...
Ray

IU and Heroes Rave XD

IU SOOO CUUUTTE XD

This is the Heroes episode where they're supposed respond "Yoo Hooo!" when they're woken up by "GOOOD MORNING!!!" :P

Funny last bit says "Kid looking for comfort in mommy's blanket" haha...

Also addicted to her duet song, Nagging!

Hmm episode 23 of Heroes is probably the most meaningful episode to me so far. 6 stars each hold a lesson  for high school students, and tell them things that will be helpful to them when they step out into society.

Many of these lessons came from the stars' own backstories, and it's really precious in that it shows the tough route to stardom behind all the glamour. The thing in common with all of them is really that they never did give up, and plowed on with a positive mindset in building their strengths and overcoming their weaknesses. I've personally gained a lot from watching this ep...

I found a pretty complete back story of IU on Win Win 111213 ep 93 (13th Dec 2011) ep, as well as on strong heart ep 110.

Win Win

Strong Heart.

Haha well... supposed to be catching up on my work still. Have to balance it a bit. Cya

Midterms are over!

Yup midterms are finally over! Hurrah!

Although finals are a month away too but still it's good to have a breather :)

Had a really good rest in the last 2 days. Slept like log haha... >.<

Would really like to go out with some friends soon. I haven't even spoken to jh or ws or even syl in so long. Have to do something to break out of this lull :\

Anyway... things I wanna share here this time round :)

First! Mahou Sensei Negima has ended!


Don't really know whether to be happy or sad about it. The comic sorta lost steam at the last bit, with everything being covered only really really briefly. So many interesting things were only hinted at and done off screen that one kinda wonders... it seems as if the author just wanted to end it already. :(

That said, it's been a great 9yrs, with a story epic in proportions and truly grounded in culture, yet amazingly imaginative. If you haven't read it yet, and would like a story that balances action and romance, I would certainly recommend this comic :)

The only burning question that's left unanswered is WHO DOES NEGI END UP WITH????? Hope Akamatsu will do something about that too. And there's also that bit about rescuing Nagi. Why was it done offscreen? hrmph lol.

Next! I cannot believe I'm saying this but i've totally become a fan of Li Ji Eun aka IU! >\\\\<



She's shooooo cutttee XDDD and pretty at the same time. I dunno how the koreans manage it. It was always either pretty or cute. Now they've managed to do both O.O

Not to mention she's a really good singer XD

Check out Good Day :)

The lyrics and dance are so cute too haha.

Not really getting enough of her juz via MVs so am watching SBS Heroes! Super funny variety show!

Eps can be found here

And first ep: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz8CrzITk7U

Alright cya all! Gotta catch up on my webcast debt now >.<

Raymond

The cycle starts again.

Recess week is over in the blink of an eye... And midterms are just around the corner.

Feeling measurably more rested, but it's like... not enough.... urg. Tutorials labs n stuff are starting up again...

Financial period is also closing...

God help me.

******

Song in my head:
It will Rain - Bruno Mars

dadum - dadum - dadum dadum dadum dadum dadum - dadadadum

Hello! The title is dum-ed to the tune of Pink Panther! XD

Hmm it's been a really busy week. Kinda feel like I'm in an endless loop at the moment... Finish one week of assignment chasing... next week arrives... Guess that's how it goes when u don't keep up :\ Actually slept at 5am on Fri morn last week... haix. Oh but had Yong Jie for study kaki haha. It turned out quite good.

General Bio is actually the most fun at the moment. The old prof keeps pulling out props to show us, which is really really awesome. (I wish I could show some pics. Should start bringing a camera ard). Even if you forego the awesomeness of his props, he gets my vote for his effort. Too bad he's not teaching next week alr... hope the actual prof is as good and not like boring... fridays tend to make ppl v sleepy, even if i did buy some snacks to fight the sleep =P

The Bio lab this week was like the best haha. We went to the Raffles Museum in Science Fac for the lab... it's near the science lib. Basically we were supposed to go thru the museum and fill up our assignment worksheet... kinda like our sec sch excursions :D good times... Saw lots of amazing things. Haha like the huge turtle, and the huge grouper fish. Bei actually went to take picture with it haha, along with some of the other larger animals. Some of the more interesting things... there're fossils, one of a dinosaur that's a land animal, but has feathers like a bird, there's another showing just the leg of the huge and long leaf eating dinosaur (bronchasaurus i think :\). and it's huge. just the leg along is ~2m high? Can't imagine how they'd be in real life. We also saw v long snakes and preserved civets. Hmm. Bei tells me ppl make perfumes from civet tails. And it smells like piss o.o Dunno why they'd wanna do that if that was the result? If they're for guy perfumes... I'm so not gonna buy them :\ There were also bats and birds (hawks! :D), and we got to see them up close since they were stuffed and preserved, which is kinda cool and creepy at the same time... the eyes were either fake (glass beads - which give them that bland staring feel) or covered with a thin film of white (which gives them the feel that they're in a trance). Either way... feel its a better thing to do since we break away from the norm of labs and tutorials.

Midterms are creeping up on us eh... So scary. And I'm good at absolutely none of my subjects at the moment T.T Even though I've resolved to do better this sem T.T Have another sit in lab coming this wed... hope to do better this time. Have to enforce the plan and progressive programming alr.

                                  Need You Now - Lady Antabellum

Valentine's Day is coming up! Hope all those with partners will cherish each other and be happy...
as for those like me... well... hope to see better things in time...

Oh btw, I lost my old UE Metro5 earphones during my return trip to Singapore somehow... been quite sad abt it... but now I've got NEW earphones!! Dunno the full name (lazy to go read the box now), but it's a pair of Denon earphones! Cost me a bomb, and took me damn long to find, but it was worth it. It has abt the same balance as the Metro5 in terms of vocals and instrumentals (slight emphasis to instrumentals and bass - i found this to be a very impt factor when i was trying out the other brands at Javens (sp?). I just couldn't stand it when the voice was overly clear, or when the instrumentals were overwhelming the voice. This fit juuuuust nice. :D ) only the vocals were clearer, and the bass less brash. Currently enjoying the amazing clarity of the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra piece :) Eargasm haha...

Oh I found out they actually whisper "wild drive... wild drive" in the song Wild Drive - YGO opening 03. I was like wth -.- The discovery was a.huge.turn.off :\ I used to think the song was cool. Now it's just creepy -.- urg.

I wanna have enough time to laze around and watch tv!!! To go and learn something interesting (music, martial arts whatever)!! Still haven't watched 3rd ep of Dream High 2... Pending 49 days... and juuuust managed to finish those few episodes of Big O... Zz...

Oo I'm pretty excited with Naruto, Bleach, Negima and HSDK. The end's in sight for Negima (3 more chapters) and Bleach (just declared final arc... tho I think that'll be at least another 200 odd chapters :\)... Naruto is going into the last bit of fight alr. And Miu just regained consciousness in HSDK! Haha faster lemme see next chapt...

Zz... oh well it's late. Till next time!

Ray