KPOP Spotlight: PHANTOM and BOYFRIEND

So one day I was incredibly bored and in need of new songs on my iPod, so I went through all the newest KPOP vids I could find, and here are the two songs that really got my attention: Burning - PHANTOM, and Janus - BOYFRIEND.


PHANTOM

^Burning - PHANTOM MV

The first time I heard their debut song, Burning, I thought it was pretty decent. Then I started playing it again and again, and now I have that song on my iPod and I've been listening to it every day. I really love Sanchez's voice. I guess I have a thing for high-pitched and smooth voices (does that make sense? "Smooth voices"? Well it makes sense in Korean...yay for Conglish). The rapping is also pretty impressive. Overall, this is a really nice song to debut with.

Another thing about PHANTOM that caught my eye is that they're different in that they only have 3 members in the group, and they don't release dance tracks. According to Loen Ent's description on the video, they're a "hybrid hip-hop group." Hmm. Interesting. I don't usually follow hip hop, but since PHANTOM is not THAT hip hoppy, I'm willing to wait for their next release. Actually, I'm looking forward to their new releases.

The thing about the MV though...it's not that pleasant to watch. Well in the beginning it's alright, not too bad yet not too good, then there are all these fire fighters spraying water at the boys and you can barely see their faces. The most memorable thing from this MV was the fire fighter's facial expression.

I'm talking about this dude

If you really want to appreciate the song, then I suggest searching up their live performances. They sound pretty good live.

BOYFRIEND

^Janus - BOYFRIEND MV

I've never really paid attention to BOYFRIEND until I came across this song. There's quite a contrast between this song and the other songs they've released (e.g. their debut song, "Boyfriend") - this one leans more towards the dramatic and serious side while their other songs are cute and cheerful. While their other songs I've heard on TV were not my cup of tea, this one - Janus - is definitely my cup of tea.

Maybe it's because all the songs by Sweetune always sound good? I can't really say for sure. All I know is that I am really digging this song. This has been on replay everyday along with PHANTOM's Burning. I really do have a thing for dramatic and serious songs - cutesy songs are hardly my cup of tea. 

About the MV - hmm well I always feel awkward when it comes around to those scenes that apparently imply that there is a story yet you're not sure what the storyline is. There are those scenes in this MV, so I don't really like it. But I would definitely appreciate a dance version though. The dance moves look pretty awesome in the MV, and they enhance the quality of the song. Plus, another reason for me to still appreciate this MV even with the awkward "story" scenes, is that music show cameramen are not very good at capturing both the dance moves and the members' faces well in one video. I've watched a couple of live performances of this song, and none of them did I think were worth putting in my iPod. Not because BOYFRIEND sucks at singing live, but because the camera angles and all just don't make the performance visually nice to watch.

I do like this song, but I doubt that I will get into BOYFRIEND. Maybe because their image of a cutesy boy band is too strong that I doubt that they will release another song like this again. I have a feeling they're probably gonna go back to sticking to that image their next comeback. Which would be a bit of a shame if it actually happens, but I guess I will find other songs like this one.

So yeah, these two groups recently caught my attention with their respective songs. If you're in need of some new music, I suggest checking these two songs out. Alright, adios for now~

Kim Sung Gyu - Another Me: First Solo Album

So if you're a fan of INFINITE and you constantly keep up with their activities, then you should probably know that Sung Gyu has recently released a solo album titled "Another Me". I really liked how his album turned out, all the songs sound completely different from what INFINITE usually releases, and it seems to show more of Sung Gyu as an individual and not just as the leader of INFINITE.

60 Seconds MV

So, starting off with the MV. This MV was so incredibly well done that I kept watching it for at least a week. It's really hard to come across a KPOP MV that actually fits the song. This MV did a great job of doing that. If you read the lyrics, you can see that almost every scene in this MV actually follows them. For example, in the beginning, the lyrics are something along the lines of "I was walking and looking around and I saw you" (sorry for the lousy translation, I don't remember the exact words and I'm too lazy to search the lyrics up) and we actually see Myung Soo doing this. And then Sung Gyu sings something along the lines of "widening eyes, slowly separating lips" and we get a few shots of Myung Soo's widened eyes and slightly opened mouth. Another example is when the lyrics are "You said you were in pain, so I let you go", and when Sung Gyu sings those lines, we see Myung Soo obviously unhappy with the idea of breaking up with his gf, but he doesn't stop her as she returns her ring and leaves him.

TL;DR: This MV is awesome.

And did anyone else love how Sung Gyu just seems like he's really into singing the song? It just made me love him even more  (´∀｀)♡ And Myung Soo crying...made me tear up. Ahhhhh.

The album

The album took SO LONG to actually get delivered - it took 2 weeks. I chose the 7 day shipping option and it turned out...it took another 7 days! Wow. I guess this is what I would have to deal with for living in the US, the country of where there is a huge lack of KPOP albums actually selling in a store. Meh.

And although I wasn't really expecting it, I didn't get the limited edition. Aww. Oh well.

Anyway, here's some pictures of what the album and the inside of it looks like, enjoy~  (＾▽＾)

This is the cover
Don't mind the boring physics notes the album is resting on top of

The inside
Ooh 2 stickers!

And on the back of the two stickers, we have the same picture of Sung Gyu on both stickers...
I think i will stick one on my laptop and use the other as a bookmark or something ahhaha

The songs

Okay, so there are a total of 7 tracks in the album, here's the track list:

1) Another Me
2) 60초 (60 Seconds)
3) I Need You
4) 눈물만 (Only Tears) - Acoustic Ver.
5) Shine
6) 41일 (41 Days)
7) Hidden Track - 60초 Acoustic Ver.

And to give a few comments on each track:

Another Me: It's just some majestic piano playing and Gyu's voice. It would've been nice if it was an actual 3 minute song though. Oh well. 

60 Seconds: This is my favorite track in the album. My favorite line in the song is: "60초로 충분한 스토리 내 삶에서 넌 사라졌어" which means "60 seconds is enough for this story, you disappeared from my life".

I Need You: I don't really like this one. :/ Maybe I'll start liking it once Sung Gyu starts follow-up promotions with this song and releases the MV for it, but right now, this isn't my cup of tea.

Only Tears - Acoustic Ver.: Sung Gyu's voice sounds really beautiful in this track. I wonder how nice it would've been to actually see him singing this song himself while playing the piano at the same time during the concert.

Shine: I didn't really like this track when it first came out, but now I'm kind of digging it.

41 Days: This is my second favorite track. I just love the way Sung Gyu sings in this song. I can't really describe it...it just sounds really...unique.

Hidden Track - 60 Seconds Acoustic Ver: I didn't really like this one, because of the longass moment of silence in the beginning that lasted for about 1 minute. Then Sung Gyu only sings for a minute and the track ends. Okayyyy.





To wrap my thoughts up on Sung Gyu's album, I overall really liked it. Although not every single song was my cup of tea, I still liked the fact that all these songs were very different from what we normally hear in KPOP. I'm happy that Sung Gyu was able to show a new side of himself, and I think through his promotions and recent interviews, I've been able to get to know him better. And from what I've heard, being a solo singer was what he originally wanted, but he had to take what Woolim could give to him at the time, i.e. the spot of the leader of INFINITE, an idol group. I'm happy that he worked hard and was able to earn himself the opportunity to release a solo album.

TL;DR: Sung Gyu, you're amazing.

And you've climbed up a lot of spots in my bias list in INFINITE. Be proud of yourself. Haha.

Edit: I just realized I kept referring to Sung Gyu's songs as KPOP...when they're in fact not close to pop at all. Sorry, but I guess I just really wanted to emphasize how different Sung Gyu's songs are from what we would usually hear from Korean idols. And I really appreciate Sung Gyu for doing what he really wanted - singing a song of the genre of modern rock - instead of falling victim to what the public would usually like (i.e. KPOP).

Code: Breaker Ep 8 - Comments

So I've been watching the Code: Breaker anime recently, and after I finished watching ep 8, I was just so disappointed to an extent that I felt the need to talk about it. So here's my thoughts on ep 8, and just the anime overall. 

Oh by the way, if you haven't read the manga then you probably don't want to read this. This post is filled with spoilers of the manga, so...yeah. Unless you don't care then...yeah read on haha.

Okay, did anyone else feel awkward when Sakura's parents were just standing there in the previous ep and actually witnessing all those powers at work? Yeah, if you have read the manga, we do get to know that they are aware of Code: Breakers (or at least, they're aware of the existence of rare kinds...thus they should probably know about Code: Breakers) and it's fine for them to see all those powers and all. But don't we get to know about their awareness on the issue of Code: Breakers and rare kinds later on? I feel like the anime is being really rushed - why all the rush? Are the producers not willing to write up seasons for this anime, or write up a long anime? (Because really, there's just so much that happens in the manga, I doubt that they would be able to squish all those things into a typical 26 episode anime...But I have a feeling they're actually gonna do that. Meh.)

 I've also noticed how the Prince and Yuuki were introduced rather early. Heck, they were introduced SUPER early into the anime. It kinda got rid of all that mysterious aura surrounding the other Code: Breakers when Sakura still only knew Ogami, Toki, and Heike. So I'm just sitting here, feeling awkward as the whole gang goes up against Hitomi, and not just Ogami, Toki, and Heike. 

Plus, it's kinda weird seeing the Prince and Heike just talking normally...and Heike in the manga takes a while to accept the Prince because of Prince's former relations with The Seeker (was that his name) and his um...goons (LOL I really don't want to call Yukihina and that other awesome guy his goons but I just can't think of a proper noun to call them...Sorry guys). But here in the anime we just see them casually talking to each other...huh. Okay. I'll try to not mind this. But I am still gonna be feeling awkward about it for a while. I guess they're just going to just make it so that the Prince didn't have any prior relations with the Seeker? But if they do that they're gonna be missing out on quite a bit of stuff...:/

So Hitomi has kidnapped the Prime Minister. What do the Code: Breakers do? They just decide to chill for the rest of the night, and take off in the morning. WHAT. THE PRIME MINISTER HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED. WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU GUYS DOING CHILLING ALL THAT PRECIOUS TIME AWAY. JESUS. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ I SWEAR THEY WEREN'T CHILLING LIKE THIS IN THE MANGA. 

It's fucking weird because the producers of the anime are rushing the plotline yet at the same time they're fucking dragging it out. OMFG. I really don't give a fuck about those random people's loyalty to Sakura, okay? (Okay they're not random...I know I know...but they still don't have any family ties regardless, so I couldn't think of a better way to call them.) Jeez. 

Lol wait there are other agents...or even higher ups from Eden acting as teachers in that school? LOL. 

Wait what. Heike betraying the Code: Breakers so early? We avid readers of the manga do know that Heike is willing to do anything to get what he wants...and he has betrayed the Code: Breakers once or twice. But I don't really remember him betraying them for Hitomi...Ok I guess this is just another new thing the producers are trying and I probably shouldn't complain. And I have a feeling this is just part of Heike's plan. Let's see how this plays out. 

Okay, I might sound whiny and I probably should somewhat appreciate that the anime is not completely following the manga. But I just personally do not like it at all when a movie does not follow a book, or an anime does not follow its corresponding manga. And this is what's happening with Code: Breaker and I'm not very pleased at how it's going. Although I'm still willing to keep watching to see how it goes.

The rest of my Thanksgiving break

Here's Part 2 of how my Thanksgiving break went~Enjoy. Sorry that this post is mostly filled with words - I didn't take a lot of pictures haha.

Day 2 - Skyfall

As soon as I got up, I walked downstairs to the living room and joined Ji Woo - the cousin I was sharing a room with - in front of the TV. My aunt gave me some warm sweet potatoes to enjoy as a light breakfast. It had been a long time since the last time I had sweet potatoes - was it when I was a little kid? I remember how my mom used to peel off the layers and give me a small piece to bite into.

Ji Woo wanted to watch Lion King, so we tried to watch it through the Internet on TV, but the video kept buffering. So we watched the Dark Knight instead (woot woot). Then after a while, aunt also made us some kimbab (yay kimbab! Long time no see/eat/smell (Ｔ▽Ｔ)). Ahh the ending of Dark Knight kinda made me tear up ;____; Batman sacrificing himself for the sake of Gotham...ahhhh too touching ;____;

Then I washed up and got ready to leave with the rest of the family to watch Skyfall. I wasn't too intent on watching it, because my roommate and my parents gave some bad reviews of the movie. But nevertheless, I still wanted to watch it, because it's a 007 movie after all. Haha.

Turns out the times written on the web were wrong, so we had to wait for a bit before entering the cinema. I felt a little awkward (wow again) because the rest of the family weren't really talking except for my aunt. I already presumed that Ben wasn't usually the talkative type, but Ji Woo was strangely quiet that time. So I just sipped my iced mocha in silence, while looking through tons of photos on my iPhone (T-Mobile's data network sucks; I couldn't get any service at all).

Then it was finally time to watch Skyfall! Woot woot. The movie wasn't as bad as I expected - it was just a new side of the James Bond movies, I guess? Normally, James Bond movies are based on action scenes and hardly put emphasis on the storyline, but this movie was the opposite. I liked it. Although I did think the movie was too long (2 hours 30 minutes...).

Afterwards, we headed back home first, to feed Cooper (their dog). Then we headed to a Chinese seafood restaurant, where Danny (the cousin who graduated from the same uni I'm attending rn) was waiting. The food wasn't particularly delicious, but it was pretty good.

Then we went back home, and I tried to work on my paper but ended up Tumblring and Youtubing instead. Yay look at how productive I was!

Day 3 - Shopping

The sad thing about this day was that I didn't find a single piece of clothing that I actually wanted to buy OTL. It was weird because the last time I went to Forever 21, I bought 3 pieces of clothing, but when I went there that day, I couldn't find anything I actually 1) liked, or 2) could pull off. And since I slept late the night before, I got really sleepy from just staring at clothes and walking around endlessly without actually trying any of the clothes on (well not true, I tried on a sweater at H&M, but it was unnecessarily long...).

And here's a selca Ji Woo and I took at Starbucks haha

 After having lunch and Pinkberry for dessert, we - Ji Woo, Aunt, and I - went back home. To help myself feel better, I looked through a lot of other stores online, and bought some stuff. Here are the things I bought online that day:

Dr. Martens Patent 1460 Boots - White from Urban Outfitters
It was pretty expensive but oh well
It was to make up for what I didn't buy when I was out

A plaid shirt from Yesstyle

I hope they come soon~hehe.

Then I had to say good bye to Ji Woo because she was leaving early back to uni. Aww, I guess I'll see her again next year...maybe as early as spring break?

Then I had Korean food for dinner woot woot. I had some Kimchi and Bossam hehe. It was so good. Gotta love homemade Korean food. I'm probably gonna force my mom to cook for me everyday for at least a week when I get back to Hong Kong haha. Gah I'm craving Kimchi now...sigh~

I was going to sleep early then because my flight was in the morning...then Sung Gyu HAD to distract me with his exposed sides on Inkigayo along with his perfect live performance of his promotion track, "60 Seconds." OTL

Day 4 - Traveling again...

Traveling is so much fun. Lalala. I'm too lazy to talk about my hardships that day.


Alright, that's pretty much it for my Thanksgiving break! I hope everyone else in the US had a great break as well, and I hope the week after the break isn't too bad. Adios, everyone~

First day of my Thanksgiving break

Hai~so this Thanksgiving break, I flew from LA to my aunt's house in San Jose to spend some time with my relatives. So this is an account of how my first legit Thanksgiving break went~enjoy.

Day 1 - Traveling

Because this was my first time getting to the airport by myself, I ran into a few troubles on my way.

There were a number of ways to get to the airport from campus, but I decided to take the convenient shuttle bus. I had no idea where the bus stop was, so I went down to the front desk of my dorm building to ask for directions. Props to the girl for actually drawing out the path to getting to the bus stop for me. Thank you~m(_ _)m. Thanks to you, I didn't get lost on the way.

This old man just randomly talked to me on the way though, asking me whether I was taking the shuttle bus to the airport (he probably assumed that from seeing me with a map and a suitcase). He kept saying I could either take this other bus that costs less but takes an hour to get to the airport, or the shuttle bus which costs more blahblah...I just wanted him to leave me alone tbh ahaha. 

So I managed to get to the bus stop safely, but I was already a little worn out because my backpack was heavy due to my laptop, and it was pretty hot. Thankfully, the bus came early and I could sit inside for a while before it took off.

When the bus actually got to the airport, I just randomly got off the first terminal, when the airline I had booked a ticket from was actually at the fourth terminal...Gah I had to walk for quite a while. When I finally got to the fourth terminal, I had to ask someone on how the self-check in thing works...lol omg I'm such a noob haha OTL

My aunt warned me that the security at LAX is apparently pretty tight, and yup it sure was - the security guards kept repeating in a serious tone to take out toiletries, laptop, and anything from our pockets. When I finally got through all that stuff, I was dying of lack of food in my stomach, so I bought a sandwich and a bottle of apple juice. I thought of going to the gate first and eat my sandwich there, but when I noticed that I had to take a shuttle bus to the gate, I decided to stay back and chill a bit more.

I had to wait about 2 hours for my flight because I came too early, and during the time I just sat in one of the seats at a random gate. I really wanted to sleep but I couldn't because I was afraid I would miss my flight (plus since I'm traveling alone, no one would be there to wake me up). When it was about time for my flight, I bought a tall sized iced coffee before taking the shuttle to the gate.

Do I look tired
Yes I do
I just sat at the gate, nibbling at my straw
And did some last minute tumblring before boarding the plane

During the flight, I napped like I hadn't had proper sleep for days (well it is kind of true...because the other day I only slept 3 hours), then I randomly woke up, and tried to nap again while listening to some good music.

Then I arrived at the San Jose Airport in less than an hour~and my uncle and my cousin spotted me at the baggage claim area.

When I got to my aunt's house, I received warm welcomes from my aunt and my two other cousins. After I put down my things, I went to the living room and just sat down on the couch with my cousins. I started chatting with one of them for a bit - I think I helped him get some nostalgia feels since the uni I'm attending right now is the one he graduated from ahha. Then we had our thanksgiving dinner~

I felt a little awkward there because I was the only non-immediate family member. While my cousins were chatting away and laughing, I kinda just smiled, stared at my food and ate it, and just stared at random places. Yeah I'm so awkward OTL 

After the dinner, I followed one of my cousins into her room and just chatted as we kind of did our own thing on our laptops. 

That was pretty much it for the first day of my Thanksgiving break~I'll talk about the rest of my break later in another post, since this post is already too long. Adios~

Recent online purchases

Hi~Ever since I've started living faraway from home, free from my parents' control, I've gotten into online shopping. So here are some of the things I bought recently that I wanted to share ^__^

I originally had a brown Rilakkuma screen protector on my iPhone, but it started peeling, so I decided to get a new one. I wasn't too keen on getting a bright-colored screen protector, like most of the Rilakkuma ones were; I actually thought of getting the exact same one as I got before. Then I changed my mind and decided to go for something different. As long as the design of the screen protector is simple and has Rilakkuma/Korilakkuma's face on it, I'm good.

I was getting bored with my plain, green transparent iPhone 4 case, so I decided to look for something cutesy and pretty. I think Etsy is really the best place to look if you're looking for kawaii iPhone 4 cases; I had a really hard time choosing which one I wanted. I got this case from Bling Bling Case Supplies - she has a lot of other colors of the same design and case, so I suggest looking through her page on Etsy if you want an iPhone 4 case like this one ^__^.  Ahh I really love my new iPhone case hehe.

I just got this iPod Touch 3G case today. It took a loooong time to get here - 4 weeks for So Totally Lame to complete and ship it, and 8 days to get to me.

I can't say I was pleased with the case right away - I guess I expected the decoden to be plastic? Because from what I saw in the picture, it looked like it would be hard plastic. But it's actually pretty soft and squishy. I think I will learn to love the case though, because now I keep looking back at my case every now and then and think, "This case is actually pretty." Haha. Plus, I'm really liking how the colors turned out.



That's all for now. I am dying to buy more stuff online, but I can't bare to buy any of the ones that catch my eye, because I'm usually the type to think over buying something for a long time before making a decision. Alright, adios~

KPOP MV Recommendation: Eye Candy + Catchy Music

Hi, I've just recently got back into fangirling over KPOP MVs again, and here are some I wanted to share. The MVs I'm about to recommend are, as the title of this post suggests, awesome in terms of eye candy and catchy music. Enjoy.

Super Junior - SPY

This song didn't really get to me at first, but it started growing on me as I started listening to it a quite a few times. The choreography's also pretty amazing too.

And to point out a few members that really caught my eye in this MV? Eun Hyuk and Ye Sung. Eun Hyuk especially killed me with his hat plus his dancing, and Ye Sung just looks amazing with that hair and eyeliner.

Super Junior - Sexy, Free & Single

If you ignore the scenes with the weird, black leather outfits (seriously Lee Teuk what did they make you wear), then this MV overall is pretty nice to look at.

Eun Hyuk, again, with his impressive dancing skills. And oh yes, Ryeo Wook is totally rocking that hair -dies-. Ye Sung also looks pretty damn attractive in this MV.

Now the song - I didn't like it for a long time. Then I started hearing it frequently on TV and all, and then it started growing on me. I guess that's how Super Junior's music works for me - I dislike it at first, then I start playing it 24/7.

Jang Woo Young - Sexy Lady

This song is super catchy. Plus, I love how the choreography just matches the lyrics and the way he sings, for example, the part where he places his finger on the side of his face and moves his neck from side to side, which (kinda) matches the lyrics "맴 맴돌아 맴돌아" (which means "circling around").

And I just realized after watching this MV a few times, that Woo Young is probably the only guy in KPOP that I want to fuck. TMI? Sorry, I just had to say this somewhere.

And Woo Young's face is just so fucking attractive. Gah.

Hyun A - Ice Cream

This MV is so colorful; I absolutely love it. I love how varied in style and color her clothes and accessories are. I also really like her make up here too. And the highlights in her hair are so pretty.

Hyun A also just overwhelmed me with her cute facial expressions and all here. The song may not be very nice, but it's pretty catchy plus the MV just makes everything better.

BEAST - Midnight (Japanese)

Okay this is in Japanese but screw it BEAST is still a KPOP group

Midnight is beyond catchy - I've always liked how nice everyone's voices in BEAST sounded, and their voices sound especially nice in this song. The song is pretty soothing for a KPOP song.

To pick out some members' looks: Dong Woon is totally rocking that suit and hat, Ki Kwang looks pretty awesome with that yellow curly hair, and Hyun Seung you just look way too pretty.



I guess I could've said more regarding each MV, but I'm a little tired plus I suck at evaluating MVs or any sort of artwork. So bye for now~

Griffith Observatory Field Trip

So this last weekend I joined a field trip hosted by the Astronomy club at my uni to Griffith Observatory ^___^ Here are some pics from the trip:

This is Griffith Observatory~

The view from the observatory o_o

There was a large pendulum at work once we entered the observatory
and I just randomly looked up at the ceiling from where the pendulum was hanging
and the ceiling was so pretty that I had to take a picture of it

A model of how stars go through the different stages of life (red giant, white dwarf, etc)

We also went to see one of the planetarium shows. It was my first time being at a planetarium, and damn the experience was rewarding. I think I liked the planetarium the best out of all the places in the observatory. 

The view from the observatory after we got out of the planetarium
It's amazing how you can see the entire city from up there

The moon

It's a bit hard to see in this pic
but on the left there's a small observatory where a huge telescope is kept in

I was hoping to see the moon or a planet, but because the moon is too bright when it's around its full moon phase, and none of the planets were up in the sky, they showed us a nebula. But the light from the nebula was too faint, so I couldn't really see it. But it was still awesome looking at something from space through a huge telescope. 

There were also smaller telescopes set up in front of the observatory. I managed to see Jupiter and four of its moons, and the Earth's moon. It was awesome seeing the moon in great detail, but it was slightly painful to look at it since it was pretty damn bright.

After that, we headed back to campus and I had a late dinner and then I passed out on my bed after I went on Tumblr and Facebook for a bit.

College Om Nom Nom log

Hey I haven't updated this blog in a while ._. To be honest, there hasn't been anything specific I wanted to write about, so I haven't been too keen on writing a new post lately.

So here are pictures of some delicious things I've had this past month at college that I wanted to share ^__^ Enjoy

The omelette at our school is delicious :>
The line is always super long, and you will have to wait for a while unless you get breakfast super early or late
But it's worth it
I think I'm gonna try one again this upcoming weekend ^__^

They had Dwen Jang Jji Gae (tofu hot pot, basically) for the Korean special at the Asian dining hall one day
It made my day
^___^

That Asian dining hall also has sushi sometimes too
Om nom nom
I usually dislike sushi but this one was good

Woot woot microwaveable ramen~
The store in our dorm area actually sells Nongshim ramen, which is pretty cool

Sometimes I just get takeaway Asian food and eat it at my dorm
while watching anime
Love it~

Not the same as the one I got in the above pic
but this is also pretty good

And one day I had microwaveable white rice for breakfast
It was good hehe

I finally got to eat pinkberry froyo (Ｔ▽Ｔ)
It was delicious.

There's this relatively new pizza place in the neighborhood
And the cooks actually make the pizza on the spot
It was really good.

Alright, I think I should probably start on my homework...bye for now ^___^

Thoughts on K-dramas I'm Currently Watching

To The Beautiful You
(On Ep 8)

Not close to being an amazing drama at all, but it's great for the purpose of cheering yourself up on a gloomy day. All the characters are so cute in the drama, although the things they do sometimes are so dumb that they annoy me.

I've noticed how in this drama, some things might seem a little unrealistic. Take for example, how Jae Hee so easily accustomed to the new environment around her. There are so many factors that could have led her to having some sort of trouble accustoming to the new lifestyle, yet her struggles to do so weren't shown much in the drama. I'm assuming this is either because it wasn't really shown in the manga, or the writer was too eager to speed up the development of the love line between Jae Hee and Tae Joon. Again, the development of the love line was pretty quick in the beginning - I know Tae Joon never showed any feelings akin to hatred for for Jae Hee, but I feel like he started being nice to her a little too early (e.g. Ep 1 - Jae Hee passes out in the middle of PE class, and Tae Joon's the one to rush over to her and carry her to the infirmary. Uh, what? Didn't you just push her hard on purpose earlier during the game?) He opened up to her before Jae Hee did anything much, so...yeah. Loopholes here and there, but you can't expect those to not appear in a drama like this.

Oh, and shameless advertising of SM artists' songs in the background...I know SM has some sort of control over the drama, but it still bothers me. I almost laughed out loud when EXO appeared...their song didn't match the celebrating atmosphere at all. Like, if you're gonna promote your artists' songs and all, please don't do it so often that it makes it extremely obvious that you're desperate to advertise everything you own? Sigh. Oh, and SM loves using their 360 degree filming technique way too much.

The Thousandth Man
(On Ep 3) 

 I feel like I'm taking a huge break from intense dramas by taking on two light hearted dramas at the same time. This drama is not exactly good for cheering yourself up, because it's kinda boring and not particularly cheery.

It would help if the characters were at least a little bit lovable, but a few of them annoy me, others are boring, and the only ones that interest me are Mi Jin and Eung Seok. Mi Jin seems cute and innocent, and Eung Seok seems like a nice guy who manages a really damn fancy restaurant. What I don't like is that they've already met each other in the past as different individuals...are we gonna have the we-were-in-a-relationship-in-the-past-but-it-ended-tragically-so-we're-gonna-fall-in-love-all-over-again-now kind of thing, drama? Okay then, if you insist...

It's nice to see one of the actresses from Ojakgyo Brothers here, but I can't help but cringe whenever she talks. I don't know, I just don't really like her character very much. Same goes for Hyo Min's character. I would probably get a headache every day if I had a sister like her.

And I do understand the point of Woo Hyun's character, but the drama makes him seem pointless. I don't really get his relationship with Hyo Min's character - they seem like they flirt with each other on a regular basis, yet they're friends at the same time...anyway, in conclusion, this couple is not a couple I can take seriously. Maybe I will later on, and maybe I'm judging them too early...but this is what I feel about them right now.

And I have a feeling this drama will have a tragic ending. Mi Jin says she's only willing to eat a man's liver if the man loves her enough to sacrifice himself for her. I'm pretty sure Mi Jin and Eung Seok are gonna end up as a couple...so either one of them is gonna end up dying in the end. Mi Jin might die, because she might love Eung Seok too much to eat his liver and end up disappearing, and Eung Seok might die, because he ends up sacrificing himself for her. There's no win-win situation at all.

Thoughts on College So Far

So I've just wrapped up the 1st week of classes (well we only had classes on Thursday and Friday though), and my first weekend after classes await me now. And here's a bunch of thoughts I have about college so far.

Living in a residential hall:
It's incredibly lively. At least, our floor is. Everyone's really friendly and social, but I'm still not really fitting in. If my roomies weren't here, then I probably would have kept the door closed all the time, when keeping the door open in a res. hall is practically a must. Most of the kids living here are from California, and there are so little international students on this floor. At least, I haven't seen a lot of them, but what I've heard is that most of them are keeping their doors closed and keeping themselves unseen from the non-international kids. I recently learned that if you keep the door closed in a res. hall, you're gonna be considered anti-social, and people will question it. I'm still not comfortable with the door open all the time when I'm in the room (I really do value alone time), but I'm trying to get used to it. I first didn't really like the people on my floor, but I'm trying hard to see the good things in them, and trying to get to know them better. Because all these people are actually really friendly and nice, and they actually want to get to know every single person on the floor. So I hope I will get used to living on this floor soon.

Friends:
I don't really have a specific clique I hang out in, but I do hang out with my roomies a lot. They're both really nice and friendly as well, and I find them easy to talk to. One of my roomies is from Cali, and I initially had this assumption that since she's American, I probably won't be able to get along with her due to cultural differences. I was very wrong - we're kind of alike in a way that we like to stay quiet and chat, rather than lead a huge group of friends and socialize in a big one. Well she's still better at socializing than me, but we're not opposite individuals. We've been hanging out and eating meals together almost every single day, which has been really nice. She's also very chill and she even shares her tea with me. T____T She's so good to me that I feel like a really bad person for not repaying her equally...sigh. Anyway, the conclusion is, I am blessed to have a roomie like her. The other roomie is from Tai Wan, and I like how she always chats with a smile on her face. She also always tries to start a conversation and stuff so smoothly. She moved in late so I haven't been able to know her as much as I got to know my other roomie, but I know that I do have really awesome roomies. ^___^ And omg yesterday both of them texted me asking to have dinner with me, I think we make a pretty close bunch of roommates. Hohoho.

I'm also happy that kids from my orientation group remember me and don't hesitate to say hi to me whenever they see me. I'm gonna be seeing them often since we're all Physics majors, so that's good :) I just recently found out that one of the girls from my orientation group is in the same physics discussion class + calc lecture with me, so that's good ^___^ Oh and there's another girl who I became acquaintances with through Facebook - she's also Korean, which makes it easier for us to communicate with each other (we can use both Korean and English with each other). She's in the same physics lecture as me as well, so I'm assuming we're gonna have a lot of working-together-on-homework+ studying-for-tests-together sessions haha.

There's another Korean girl I became friends with, and now we're comfortable with each other on a level that we text each other often and talk with each other comfortably. We just made plans today to hang out in Santa Monica this weekend, so I'm looking forward to that. ^__^

So I'm glad that I'm not feeling very insecure about not having friends anymore. But I would love to make more friends, and I'm looking forward to meeting new people in my classes. Woot woot! ^___^

Getting around on campus/in LA:
I've got the hang of it. It is quite exhausting to come downhill from the dorms to campus and go back up the hill back to the dorms once classes are over though. It takes about 15 ~ 20 minutes every time. Plus, it's not helping that it's freaking hot in LA in the day. I'm desperately waiting for the weather to cool down in October. And plus I recently got my brand new scooter and I've got the hang of riding it around campus. What annoys me is that there are so many dismount zones where all kinds of wheel riding are prohibited...I feel like there's no point in me riding a scooter then. But screw it, they only have those zones so that there aren't any accidents like for example, someone on a bike crashing into a pedestrian or something. I won't let anyone stop me from my scooter riding! >___< But I promise to be careful of crashing into other students walking in front of me though.

I've also taken the courage to walk around downtown/outside campus on my own. I did get lost on my first outing, but I managed to get to my destination, and get back on campus safely. I'm glad I feel more comfortable around here now, and I'm looking forward to exploring more places in LA and learning how to get there by public transport.

Classes:
I just had my first lecture today. It was a fresh experience, being in a hugeass classroom filled with nearly 200 students. We haven't really started learning anything yet, so I can't say whether my classes are difficult or not...but I am looking forward to them. And I also like how professors don't check attendance - heck they probably won't even get to know my face at all. Not that I'm implying that I'm gonna be skipping classes, it's just that I will probably late for my calc lecture a LOT, thanks to some weird scheduling (it was the only way to get the classes I wanted though). And I probably will never be marked down for being late...and thankfully the lecture hall my calc lecture is held in has doors on the sides, and there are seats right next to the door, so I can just sneak in quietly and take a seat without the professor noticing. I hope.

But omg it would suck to be late for my mid-terms. I hope they're not on those days where I have weird scheduling times.



Well that's pretty much mostly what I'm feeling about college right now. I hope things will get better and better as time passes.

"Keep Calm and Carry On"

This is one quote I really think that relates to my life right now. Right now, it's been nearly a week since I've landed in Cali. I've been busy with orientation, sight-seeing, shopping dorm supplies, etc. I've just successfully finished up a visa workshop on Monday (so no holds will be placed on my school account yay), and in less than 12 hours, I'm officially moving into my dorm, and saying good bye to my parents. Once my parents are gone, there won't be anyone close to me that I can comfortably share my emotional troubles with. At least, at the moment.

I mainly blame the fact that I'm still feeling insecure on the fact that our school starts way too late. Every day on Facebook, I constantly see new pictures of my high school classmates smiling and laughing with their new friends in college, long and funny convos on each other's walls, and anything of the sort on my feed. Every time I see them, I'm always filled with envy and anxiety. Thoughts like, "I wish I had close friends like that in college," and "Will I ever be able to make such a close knit of friends again, like I had back in high school?" sort of haunt me. Maybe if my school had started earlier, I wouldn't have to be plagued with this anxiety for such a long time while others are having such a great time at college that they wouldn't hesitate to answer "It's awesome" when they're asked how college is.

I'm not completely alone though, I did make friends that I could talk to and say hi whenever I see them, but I'm just not as close with them enough. And plus, already on the first day of orientation, I saw tons of kids walking around in small groups, engaging in small conversations with each other. It really doesn't help that it seems like I'm one of the only ones to have come to this college from my high school, and from Hong Kong. (Okay, I heard that there are two kids from my HS here, but I haven't seen them at all so far, plus I have a feeling they are already in cliques as they were here before me...) Everyone seems to have come from either the same school or the same area, have instantly found each other and are not sticking to each other like glue.

I really don't blame them. It's common for international students to come to college in a foreign country, and immediately find others of their own kind and hang out with them. I would probably try to do the same thing too. After all, I did feel a great relief when I managed to befriend a Korean. But I still can't help but feel jealous of all these kids. Why do they get the easy way into settling into college life? Why must I be plagued with this feeling of insecurity and be unable to sleep or eat well for nearly a week now?

Alright, fine. I'm being challenged. I normally don't talk about anything relating to my religious beliefs, but I need to say this in this way - God really must be testing me. He has loved testing me ever since I was a child, hasn't He? But then again, whenever He did, although I had suffered a lot, I did manage to come out much stronger in the end. So I'm gonna trust God and believe in myself, that everything will be fine, and that all I need is patience and strength. That the more I am challenged, the better person I will become. And that this is part of growing up. I can't stay as a child forever. I can't stay as a teen forever. I'm going to become an adult sooner or later. I need to be ready when that stage comes. And to be ready? I must "keep calm and carry on."

Or even just

keep calm and

GANG NAM STYLEEEEEEE

Getting ready for college + some other random stuff

So I've only got a little over a week left until I finally leave for college. Once I get there, everything's gonna be pretty hectic with orientation, visa workshops, meeting new people, and moving into dorms. I just hope everything goes smoothly and that I don't run into any big problems while I'm settling in.

Recently, I've been discussing things I would need to shop for college with my mom - my parents will buy most of the stuff for me in the US while I'm stuck on campus for orientation (thank you mom and dad hehe). So here are some stuff I've bought for college:

Not having a camera case didn't bother me that much, but now that I have lost my lens cap and I will have to share a room with two other people, there's gonna be a limited amount of space my camera can be safely placed without being damaged...so I decided I needed one. And tadah~here it is.

I didn't think my mom would give me the only nail clipper in the house
so I bought my own
it's Hello Kitty and it's purple! Hehe

Jetoy luggage tag - front

Jetoy luggage tag - back

According to my mom, I'm gonna have to start applying BB cream
since my skin is sensitive to strong sunlight
and since I'm going to California and it's pretty hot there

My very own luggage case ^__^
I know the lighting's pretty bad here, but the color's supposed to be bright neon pink

Not sure what the exact name are for these...
and these weren't exactly fully for the purpose of college haha

But yeah they're for your bangs
I know I don't have much bangs but they do bother me whenever I wash my face at night
They always fall down to my cheeks and get wet and I don't like it when my hair gets wet esp. not when my hair has completely dried already
so yeah
I don't really like how they're in a bow shape
but whatever

again, not bought exactly for college
it was just that I needed some more hair ties

And here are some totally irrelevant-to-college stuff I bought recently:

The 1st look magazine issue featuring Tiffany
I debated between buying the INFINITE one and this one
I ended up choosing Tiffany

because she looked too gorgeous in this photoshoot
and the clothes she wore looked really nice too

Debated between this DVD and the Second Invasion DVD
and I bought this in the end

The photocards
I liked Hoya's one the best

DVD 1: BTS of The Mission day
DVD 2: Mash up performances, interviews of each member

the photobook

what the inside of the photobook looks like

I just got my She's Back Limited Edition today
Definitely pricey, but worth it (at least for me)

Hoya's random photocard + Sung Yeol's postcard

CD: She's Back (Japanese Ver.), Torawa (Japanese Ver.), She's Back (Korean Remix Ver.)
DVD: She's Back (Japanese Ver.) MV BTS
THE DVD WON'T PLAY ON MY MAC *TEARS*
Update: Never mind it's working lol

The photobook

what the inside of the photobook looks like

And some extra random photos I needed to share and talk about:

I managed to find a set of clothes that look good with the neon jacket
A white H&M short-sleeved shirt + blue animal print jeans from MANGO
I'm dying to wear this outfit soon (it's too hot outside to wear it rn)

My new drink addiction
This tastes really good, it's not too sweet, yet not too bitter
Loving it