Very pretty song...just listening to the various selections you post daily has really exposed me to music I would not otherwise listen to. Thanks.

Other than Boys Before Flowers, what other dramas are you drowning in? I know you are doing recaps for Return of Iljimae (which, btw, are great reading!)

First time I'm going to Mexico for March Break, and I heard on the news this morning that the Canadian government has issued a warning to tourists due to drug-related gang violence...nothing like a caution to dampen my enthusiasm:(

I only need to see the last quarter of the last episode of My Name is Kim Sam Soon, but I can't find it on Dailymotion! Kinda frustrating because I am a relatively new kdrama watcher who MUST finish every series that I start...but at the same time, I was quite disappointed with the series. It wasn't as good as I expected. Probably because I don't really like the main character.

Just dawned on me that BBF has 20 episodes. Only 4 more to go...

I'm going to be home studying for my exams that has been postponed till now. But all I've been doing is watching dramas and reading your blog. :D I am so productive sometimes.

I'm having a busy week too.
@ 2 Btw, BFF has a total of 24 episodes, not 20.
Have good weekend everyone. Get some rest for our crazy Monday...( You know what I'm talking about ;P )

@Spooksmom -> Return of Iljimae

Return of Iljimae.....Return of Iljimae.....(Sarah, sending you virtual power bars for Return of Iljimae recaps :P )
TGIF! Wouldn't it be great to be able to play hooky for a week to catch up on dramas? ;) Too bad there's the real world, and the need to earn a living, especially since our 401(k)'s are down 30%. O.o

BBF has 24 Episodes

ROTFLMAO over Lee Min Ho's fall on the red carpet. Schadenfreude indeed.

A Love to Kill has got to the point where I know it's going to turn really angsty so I've started re-watching Meteor Garden instead.

I could catch up with East of Eden but given the write ups I might just wait until I can ff all the bits I know will annoy me.

Oh Javabeans *raise the roof* i really do love yer song preference. When I'm in the mood to find a good music I just visit yer blog and voila!!! *faved & D-loaded* TY

Hmmm currently waiting for my BBF AMV to be uploaded *youtube*. Due to tons of school works I wasn't able to submit my ...yunno... on 2nd thought...it's a good thing i wasn't able to...coz errr what i did can't measure up with those well made parodies/vids..hahaha!

So..imma do my thing now...

the download link seems to be broken, at least it is for me.... :(

I've started re-watching meteor garden too.
I realised that despite its bad points, it still has redeeming qualities and now it pisses me off whenever anyone go all fancrazy over the korean version. [example: it's the best one out there] Having watched all three, I can't choose. They're all really good.
Shancai is by far the prettiest out of the Makino's

I'm so glad Lee Min Ho won the Best Newcomer Actor title at the 45th Baeksang Arts Awards last night. Well-deserved I might say! Congrats!

I'm ecstatic that my very favorite actor, Kim Myung Min won the Best Actor Award at the BaekSang!
And yeah, he didn't share it with anyone else!
Yipeee!!!!!!!!!!!

i've been rewatching soulmate... obsessed with the soundtrack all over again aaaah!!! XD

wahh I love the song you've uploaded today!! it's so good! except I can't seem to download it...is anyone have the same problem? >.<

hey I really like this song, thanks

I have to give you GIANT thanks Javabeans for doing Project Runway Korea subtitles. I just happened to be browsing d-addicts a couple days ago, and omo! You had made subtitles! I was just going to watch it without, but the subtitles are a lovely surprise :D Anything to help me tide over from my PR withdrawal in the US.

@ 4 KTV and 6 roxyelias,

Thanks for filling me in...EIGHT more episodes instead of four for BBF. Yeah!!!

im watching empress chun chu.. I still need to pick up return of iljimae (I really like reading the recaps) again... ^^

@ Yin: Nobody seems to agree with me, but I actually think Jandi is the prettiest. Shancai has that awesome hair, but I don't think Barbie looked especially pretty at all. Makino/Mao I like, but I think she's very plain. So that leaves Goo Hye Sun, who isn't exactly pretty, but she's way cute, and has looked pretty in other places.

I'm watching jdrama Mei-chan no Shitsuji; it's AMAZING. Every girl in this school has her own butler: a hot guy in a tux following you around all day, who's duty is to 'protect their bodies and their hearts'. WTF, it's like one long wet dream. And Mizushima Hiro, who is too sexy to be alive. <3

I love Dramabeans, but I wish there was such sensible commentary on Japanese and Taiwanese dramas, too, somewhere.

@ Jo: ZOMG, Lee Min Ho tripped on the red carpet? <3 AWESOME.

I just love love love your music selections! Sometimes I wish all your songs were on imeem or like my ipod for instant gratification all at once, hahah.

March is almost here...which means BBF is almost over! :( I read somewhere that they're in negotiations for extending the series from 24 to 26...not that I completely agree by adding insult to injury by overworking the already overworked actors but I selfishly also love having a reason to look forward to Mondays...slash isn't the creator also a stickler for keeping with the prescribed agreement of 24? So does anyone know if it's 24 for real?

And GAH health care sucks away my soul. Anyone else in the health care industry?

@ xiahkixiri

Check out K-Pop they have action photos and it's hilarious.

I like the sound of Mei-chan no Shitsuji is anyone doing subs?

It's finally Friday! Looking forward to catching up on BBF & Cain & Abel episodes this weekend.
I think Shancai is the prettiest out of the Makino’s as well. She's plain yet pretty. I don't like Goo Hye Sun all that much, she's just ok. She tried way too hard to act cute.
I'm sad too BBF is almost over, why can't good things last???

O__O DYING. His endless, endless legs sprawled everywhere, and that adorable grin after, hahaha. Too into character? I can imagine Jun Pyo doing that. EEEE. Man, who needs dignity when you're fangirling or fangirled?

@Jo: It's being subbed! Ep 7 subs will be out in the next day or two, 11 eps total. Jdramas are disappointingly too short to get fully involved, usually, which makes me sad, but it's truly win.

I am so sick of being sick - cold then turn into a sinus infection. On Saturday is March 1st - new month - new everything. I can't wait to get better.

The weather has been pretty good so I probably try to get some sun and rest up for the week.

Have a great week

It has been a long week... was getting so use the 3 day weekends due to all the holidays.. at least here in the US.

Looking forward to a nice weekend.. Have tons of dramas that I need to finish..
Maybe I'll finish White Tower... or Gourmet... or catch up on EOE...

Better yet, I should start Return of Iljimae... been wanting to read the recaps... but I can't until I've seen it.

Thanks Javabeans for all the effort and time you put in this blog.
It's the BEST. :D

OMG...Javabeans you would be the GREATEST if you sub Iljimae.

yeah.. there are streaming sites with the subs... but the quality of the videos can't do it justice!!!! They are so bleary that it hurts ><.

Can't wait to see it in HD with your subs.

@ #25 Sherrie in HB: i have a cold too!!!! it's either a cold or allergies, i'm not too sure which one it is but either way it sucks to have a stuffy-but-leaky nose.

and i just read your twitter comment Javabeans. uh oh... who got into an accident this time?!?! O_o

i also love the song!!

I too watched Meteor Garden again... I love that story but I find Boys Before Flowers to be refreshing...

Cain and Abel is getting better and better. In the meantime, So Ji Sup's character gets tortured, shot at point blank range, andis wearing a real crap sageukstache. This is not a coincidence. As much as I wish SJS would be in a lighter drama where he isn't, you know, dying, there is something compelling about So Ji Sup getting his ass kicked royally by life. The Passion of So Ji Sup has been going on since 2003, but it's still a wonder to behold.

Storyline is really picking up, and the camera work is pretty stylish. It's a little bit like watching the Lobbyist, minus Choi Wan Kyu's love of Chuck Norris histrionics. And SJS is doing a great job bringing immediate fear and desperation into his role.

SoCal TV:

Pretty psyched that in SoCal, Channel 18.1 is broadcasting SBS now. (Though watching On Air in Mandarin is kinda . . . huh.) We get SBS, KBS, and MBC (24/7!!) all free now. We even have a South Korean Shopping Channel(?) Why do we bloody have a SK Shopping Channel?!?

Not feeling the new 18.2 UTB channel. I like getting NHK programming (and NHK World News is a lot like watching BBC News), but all the otaku/gaijin-exchange student stuff is kinda irking me. It's just uncomfortable to me.

HanaDan Talk:

Inoue Mao's Makino is the definitive one for me, and it's not really close. Within 45 seconds, I was like "OMG!! She IS Makino." Even the manga facial expressions are uncanny, yet still realistic.

Shancai was Barbie's (as well as the rest of MG F4) first shot at acting, and that did show. But Meteor Garden was, for me, kind of a warmup drama for Barbie/Vic's show Mars, and I absolutely absolutely loved them in that show

Koo's good in the heavier scenes with Jandi, but the "comical" Jandi was a bad, bad misfire. Like Lee Ji after a few lines of coke. Having said that, the Jandi/Jun Pyo chemistry reminds me of the BiKyo vibe. Without expressing it, there's a strong, natural noona vibe and, while not canon, it's absolutely lovely.

@ Javabeans - thanks for the heads up about Casker's latest album . I just got a hold of it and I really like it (maybe not as much as Between, but it's still excellent). Which reminds me, I need to get Clazziquai's Metrotonics also. Happy weekend everyone!

hey, Javabeans, will you be recapping Cain and Abel? I hope Koo Hye Sun is ok....have a good weekend everyone!!

I am quite possibly the only person in the world who loves winter, especially overcast cold days, and weeks without sunshine. Now that spring is almost here, I find myself feeling depressed. First sign of spring-y weather: neighborhood kids playing in the streets. GET OFF MY LAWN, DAMN KIDS!

This is random. But it's something that has puzzled me a couple of times. I know that the term for older sister in Korean is "noona." And I thought it is pronounced the way it is spelled: noon-na (as in afternoon). But Sometimes I hear guys say "doona" and they pronounce it "do-na" as in "just do it". I remember the latter was pronounced in Episode 7 of Boys Before Flowers; when Jun-hee, Jun-pyo's sister, dragged him by the ear out of the principal's office. It was prominent for me because he said it a couple of times in a row. As I'm not Korean and I definitely don't speak it (although my level of basic Korean has improved because of watching so many kdramas!), I'm confused and I would appreciate it if someone could explain it. So is something wrong with my ears or is there two ways of saying it? If not, then which one is correct? Thanks!

(That was such a long "question.")

AGH! Time keeps truckin' and my feet are frozen solid.

@IcanhazGooJun-Pyo

You are not alone. Every time it warms up (i.e. spring threatens), the pollen just ambushes my sinuses and it's torture!

It's the weekend and I have my elder bro and brood in town. Relatives. Hmm.

Inoue Mao is Makino! Spunk and guts in a cute-without-cutesy package. Though HYD 2 was more focused on Domyouji's rites of passage, Makino was quietly growing up too, which paid off in the last ep's denouement!

Thanks, Sarah! Sending you kimbap rolls, dduk, and your favorite crackers/chips, too. :D

@Aye, it's noona, with an "N" - what a boy calls his older sister/sister figure

heya sarah, i gots a sorta blashphemous question.l.. do you ever get tired of dramas.. recapping and subbing and stuff... especially when it piles on like this?

*gasp* whoa whoa YO. :P
LOL

@ belleza:

Do you really find that Cain and Abel is getting better and better? I know they''re only in the initial stage of the drama where they have to set the story up, but with only four eps in, this show is way too overly dramatic atm.

But, I do think that this show is beautifully shot, which is something I sorely miss after having watched nothing but Boys Over Flowers for the past two months. My brain missed the pretty.

Finally get to sleep in tomorrow , Thank God.
Excited for BBF on Monday, too!

I honestly think that Inoue Mao is the real Makino, because of the impression she left on me. I saw her as spunky, fresh, funny-cute, and indpendent, but capable of accepting help -- which to me is who Makino is. Also, since she was actually called Makino in HYD, it made me think it was really her.
Barbie was alright, and yes she is very pretty, but that doesn't really amount to much in the long run
And Gu Hye Sun, in my opinion, is having a hardtime fitting into the role of Jandi. It seems quite forced to me. And she can sometimes be pretty, but mostly she looks like a clueless, awkward mushroom to me. Harsh, yes, but I've seen her on another drama a couple years back where she was just the same, but with a diff hair do.

19 xiahkixiri, I agree with you. I really like Jandi. GHS brings a freshness to it^_^ Heard GHS's car accident, bruises on face, mouth need stitches and now BBF delay because ep. 17 and 18 not all parts filmed yet. PD should really learn from this mistake and not work the actors to death.

I've found it easier to accept BOF now that I've made my peace with the fact Jun Pyo and Jandi just aren't good representations of their manga counterparts. MinHo is a good actor and it's his presence that's winning my over but he's no Tsukasa, he was de-fanged right from the outset and a pretty standard kdrama spoilt brat.

BOF is going down as my least favourite Hanadan adaptation. Its saving grace is Yi Jeong and Ga Eul, the freshness of their storyline keeps me tuning in each week and a leading man who has great charisma.

i really liked the song :) loved lee min ho's pic with kim bum- the one that seems like a 'candid shot.' he looked like he was having a blast. awwww.
i'm also juggling 4 kdramas at the moment. i used to have a policy of one drama at a time. now, my sense of drama loyalty has flewn out the window and ran down by my neighbors red old school ford truck. ugh.
can anybody point me to a site or share a link to where i can watch all episodes (if possible w/ english subs that won't make my head spin) of "Why Did You Come To My House?" please. i'm desperate.. from one kdrama addict to another.. hahaha.

@Amy,

"his show is way too overly dramatic atm."

Cain and Abel's kinda gotten all the hallmarks of a classic SBS superstar vehicle/event drama. Good actors, oodles of money in the first 4 episodes, and a "wtf?" plotline. I love it. :D A lot of SBS event dramas are what I call "blue screen dramas." It's not so much a realistically concieved story with an overarching theme, but a collage of storyboards that the top-end actors kinda emote "in front of." (i.e. "In this scene Shin Hyung Joon, you're going to have a bittersweet moment with your ex-love. . . . and then you're going to have a seizure as soon as she turns around. And you're going to do this in pretty Suzhou. Yes, it makes no sense. Yes, your paycheck bonus is coming this afternoon!") All behind some really gorgeous (yet irrelevant) scenery. It's so awesome it's almost like watching an actual story! :D

I think what's going to eventually kill Cain and Abel is its high concept. Fusing a medical soap with an international thriller piles on the "game over man!" moments early on, but it also starves the foundation of each genre. Meaning, it's not really a great poltiical thriller ("uhhh? how did Lee Cho In survive all those shots?!?") and it's not really an interesting medical drama (intrigue, but who cares?) Then when the narrative eventually must cross that fork in the road and commit to being just one thing, it'll struggle to finish out.

All the same, while watching C&A, I realized how much I missed watching Him. And it's pretty. Pretty matters!!

I want to watch Cain and Abel because I loved So Ji Sub in Misa, and Han Ji Min in Capital Scandal. That said, emo dramas are hit and miss; I either love them with a fiery passion, or hate their guts. I guess I'll try it somewhere down the line...

I like Inoue Mao, but I don't think she's as brilliant as everybody say. Also, I reallllly despised the way she says 'BAKA janai?', especially to Kaede. That's why I loved that scene where Jandi was telling Kang Mama to screw it, but in a polite and respectful way.

@xiahkixiri,

"That said, emo dramas are hit and miss; I either love them with a fiery passion, or hate their guts. I guess I’ll try it somewhere down the line…"

Two words describe Cain and Abel so far: AMNESIA PLOT.

Belleza loves amnesia plots (and SBS sure loves 'em!) Also, Belleza loves how 3 of the 4 characters has potentially fatal afflictions. Remember when Stalin said one death is a tragedy, but a bunch is a statistic? This could be THAT drama!!