The Return of F(X)!

It hasn't even been a week since f(x) began promoting for their new album RED LIGHT, and they've already announced that it's set to drop NEXT WEEK MONDAY!!! MAN, I'm so excited about this new release, more excited than I've been for all the other recent releases including Girls Generation, AOA. Apink and 2NE1, because f(x) is ONE group that consistently pushes the envelope with new, unusual and exciting creations, and we're going to be blessed with an entire ALBUM's worth of new material!!!!
 The girls have been releasing individual teaser images of the new look and concept for Red Light, and the dark, gothic look is yet another new venue for them!

   I already went online and pre-ordered it, they were offering up two editions, a version "A" and a version "B", I didn't know what the difference was, so I just ordered them BOTH, and then they had a choice of one or two poster option, I of course chose the TWO poster option, MAN, i'm telling you,  I'm SO gearing up for this release! It's gonna be f(x) Red Light Pandemonium when that package arrives here!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

No, Sera, No!

Breaking News via Allkpop

Man, seems like not even a year since I was captivated by Nine Muses' Lusciously sexy Ryu Sera and now it's been announced that she's leaving the band! Nine Muses have been going through quite a bit of member shift, since even LeeSem and Eunji have recently departed, but Sera was not only one of the original members, but the group's leader as well!

 I'm hoping that the real reason for Sera leaving is to focus on a solo career, since she's been making a lot of these great homemade videos featuring her singing her favorite songs in relaxed sittings. My favorite one has to be of her sining the classic  King Harvest "Dancing In The Moonlight", Sera is so cute just hangin' around the home humming tunes to herself!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

No More Kpopmart for Me

After a few successful purchases from Kpopmart, the online dealer had become my go-to place to shop for new K-Pop CDs, but this all changed once I ordered the new Hyosung CD and Poster from them. 
  I’d put in the order for her new CD “Top Secret” from them (21.98 for the CD/poster and a whopping 15.60 for shipping) and expected it to arrive within a few weeks. Those weeks became months, and just when I was about to write them and ask what was up, I got an email from them telling me that the package had been returned to their shop as undeliverable. WHAT! Looking at the picture they sent me of the package, I saw that the label with my address on it had rubbed off during transit, leaving the mail carrier without an address to deliver to!
  So that explained the delay- but THEN, they told me that if I wanted them to re-send it to me, I had to pay them another $15.60 to ship it again PLUS an additional $3.50 “return” fee!!!! 
 I said that that was ridiculous, I wasn’t going to pay ANOTHER 15.60 for shipping which I already thought was expensive, THEN make me pay for the return fee? They remarked that it was MY country that sent it back so they were not the ones to blame. Yeah, but as the shipper, shouldn’t I have a reasonable expectation that THE FREAKING SHIPPING ADDRESS would be adhered to the parcel in a way that won’t RUB OFF in transit?
So I told them forget it, I’m canceling the Hyosung order. They refunded me the cost of the CD (21/98) but not the shipping, of course. SO I was out that. Plus, they took the $3.50 “return fee out of the Hyosung return amount. So I got back a total of 18.30 out of the initial $37.40 I paid.  So I’m out 19.50 and no Hyosung CD.
 Maybe it isn’t their fault and the rubbed off label is just “one of those things” but boy, I’m not ordering anything more from them. On to new dealers….
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Li Bing Bing and Jun Jihyun

Lisa See’s new book came out the other week, and seeing it on the shelf got me thinking about a few years back when they’d re-released her book Snow Flower and The Secret Fan to tie into the new movie that had just come out…I’d made  plans to check out that movie at the time, but it must have came and went without much fanfare because I didn’t hear anything much about it after that. With renewed interest, I went onto ebay and found that there were a good many affordable DVD copies for sale, and I was able to grab a deal of about 7 dollars for the Bluray version which arrived just the other day!

Now, I didn’t remember much about the movie except that it was noted that Wanye Wang, the director who’d done “The Joy Luck Club” had also directed this film. I didn’t know who any of the actors or actresses attached to the film were either, so imagine my surprise when I got the bluray movie into my hands and found that one of the girls (the aforementioned “Snow Flower” in the film’s title), was played by none other than Gianna Jun, AKA Miss Jun Jihyun, the sassy actress who recently took my heart for a ride with her cute and sexy take as Cheon Song Yi in “You Who Came From The Stars”!!! WOW!

Gianna Jun and Bing Bing Li

 Snow Flower and The Secret Fan tells the tale of two girls in 1893 China who are bound together as lifelong companions in a ritual called laotong (the ceremonial choosing of one's confidant, think arranged marriages, but for friendship among girls) and the support they have for each other as they grow up, get married and pursue their own paths through its ups and downs. It’s also a tale of two modern-day friends who have the same friendship pact between each other, and the rituals they got through relying on each other. 

Friends comforting each other in 1839 China...

...And in Modern Times, too.

   Both the Olden China story and the Modern Day girls’ story’s characters are played by the same two actresses, Gianna Jun and Li Bing Bing (playing main character Lily), and it’s fascinating to watch them jump back and forth from the rigid ceremonial past to the free-wheeling electronic age, but best of all, you get to see Jun Jihyun in not only her traditional China garb, but also as the sexy-hot Jihyun we all know so well from You Who Came from the Stars as well as films like “The Thieves” !

Jun Jihyun and Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman in Snow Flower

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a pretty straightforward tale of true friendships that endure all the pitfalls and heartaches of life, and though it didn’t rock my world or anything, I still came away afterwards thinking about the movie (as well as wiping away my tears) and will definitely be watching this one again!

PS: one drawback about getting the movie in bluray is that I couldn’t play it in my computer, and therefore wasn’t able to make any screencaps!  
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Apink Hayoung Covert Action

  

So I’m watching one of my very favorite fancam performances of APink of the girls doing a rehearsal of “BuBiBu”at the 2012 DMZPeace Concert (Bomi in particular looks sooooo pretty with that very girly white dress)…
  Anyway, so I’m watching it, and though I’ve watched this clip a hundred times before, for the first time, I noticed Hayoung stuffing something into her pocket at some point in the performance:

After pausing and rewinding that segment, I realized it was her glasses! But why did she have her reading glasses with her onstage? I rewound the video to the beginning as saw that she’d originally had it in that pocket:

But during the course of her dancing, it started coming out and when her hand brushed against it, she realized it was about to fall and grabbed it, all without missing a beat!

I love that even though It’s only the rehearsal, she was a total pro! Check it out!

She grabs her glasses at around :47 sec , and stuffs them back in at around 1:50!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

The K-Pop Arms

Didn’t realize I’d be enjoying the new SBS reality show “Roommate” so much- I’d initially only tuned into it because I'd already seen the hilarious footage of the messy Afterschool dorm  when they went to interview cast-member Nana before she moved into the Roommate Building. The first episode was pretty much what I expected (awkward greetings and small talk among residents), though it was pretty cool seeing a side of Nana I hadn't before, I wasn't sure how much I'd be checking into the show.

Nana and Hong Soohyun

This all changed with the second episode and the sole reason for this sudden spark of interest in the show is because it was episode two when eccentric “4-Dimensional” 2NE1 vocalist Park Bom showed up! Holy CRAP, I FORGOT how freaking fun she is- she has SO MUCH personality and dizzy attitude that from the MINUTE she showed up, she had me cracking up and wanting to tune in for more! 

The One and Only Park Bom

From waking everyone up at 3 in the morning as she tried (unsuccessfully) to get ready for bed while the others slept, and finally giving up and sleeping in the living room (and how hilarious when the late night arrivals came home and found her sleeping there, LOL)

 ...to mischievously sneaking drinks and snacks into her bed and nibbling them under the sheets when she thinks no one is looking: 

...as well as talking to the cameras in her room like they are real life friends standing right next to her, it was like watching 2NE1TV all over again!

examining the camera as Song Gayeon looks on

 I’ll admit, when the other (guy) roommates are on, I ain’t that interested, but BOY, whenever Bom is there, it is as fresh and funny as anything! Recently, both Nana and Lee Sora have stated how much they love Bom, and it’s easy to see why- she is so naive and sapcey about things, she’s like a wide-eyed innocent child- a child who can belt out the ballads like a goddess!

Orange Caramel meets 2NE1

Future best Buddies Nana and Bom

Bom's quirky habit of speaking exactly what's on her mind has also paved the way for some fun scenarios like when she confessed that she wasn't keen on "Mom" Shin Sung Woo cooking their meals with his full mustached and bearded face, so with her pressuring, they trooped out into the yard to shave it off! Bom giggled throughout the segment, and when Shin needed water to wash off the shaving cream and she sprayed her water moisturizer all over his face, she was dying with laughter! So much fun!

"Mom" Shin shaving off his beard and mustache at Bom's request

 And trips to go shopping haven't been so entertaining since that 2NE1TV show when they went to London- as usual, Bom's 4-dimensional way of tlaking ans thinking had everyone cracking up!

Just shopping with the girls

 ...and even back at home, she's entertaining just sitting in bed all day (which she does, all the time, ahaha) bonus points for her venturing out sans makeup- though she DID have a bit of shyness when Nana came into the room straight from a Music Show appearance in full glamoured-up makeup!

Eeek! You're so pretty and I'm all ughhhh!

 Aw man, sad to say, I've been hearing quite a bit about how poorly the show is doing in the ratings, but for MY money, it's all the other boring storylines that are bringing the show down (I'm particularly bugged by the forced "lovelines" that they're always trying to start between flatmates) because when Bom is onscreen, it is 100% pure fun entertainment!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com