@44 mishane

Cool! I've been wondering how it went. Was the event well attended? How did you end up winning the poster?

Good Luck Moving. . . Throw tons out !
my last move I gave away so much . . . but now I even have been trowing stuff out like a crazy person. . . . feels great !

Samsooki . . . YES ! the same thing has happened to me. . . My credit card warned me and issued me a new card right away before I even knew what had happened !
Ever since I moved from California and can only use comcast cable and they dropped their Asian channel I am lost ....so I have to rely on the online stores. . . . bummer !

@ 47 mzpakipot

Haha, no butt grabbing from me. He was literally in and out. I almost wish I went to the restaurant/lounge he was at but I had work at 6 AM the next day and . . .well. . .I've had my share of celeb experiences. But, I got my smile, my eye contact and my wave. Hehe, we made eye contact a few times (which I attribute all to my hat. I think he wanted it for himself!)

I'm good with that. :)

@ 50 langdon813

It's a very very small theater, mostly for indie movies so I think there was only about 100 people or so. That's why there was no barrier. It was a theater and a tiny little stage. Not 'showy' at all. Very intimate.

Most of the attendees were Korean women, lol.

As for the poster, they passed out slips of paper, we had to put our info on it and they picked about 7 names or so and gave them prizes. I was surprised to win, but it wasn't a big deal. :)

He shook some peoples hand in the first row. I think one girl died of a heart attack, lol. She almost jumped him on the stage. I'm telling you, the only thing separating So Ji Sub and his crazy fan girls were their own self control. And I guess NYC fangirls have better self control than I thought.

Shining Inheritance has seriously become my new obsession for the past few days. I wasn't going to start a new drama while I was waiting for subs for Triple and Queen Seon-duk (which I've started watching and the first couple of episodes were interesting---I really liked the child actors who played Kim Yushin and Dukman respectively). But I seriously have been on a marathon downloading and watching Shining Inheritance for the past few days. It is so predictable, but still I have no idea why I'm so interested in it. I really hope the step-mother gets what she deserves and as much as I wanted to cut slack for Seung-mi, the last episode (15) really made me mad! Ugh! I think in the end it will be as Hwan's grandmother had said, that he really needs to learn how to judge a person and hopefully he will. But at the moment I still like Jun-soo better...if Eun-sung ends up with him, I'll be happy with that too (though that probably won't happen).

Does Shining Inheritance remind anyone else of the drama 1% of Anything?

@MISHANE's meet up wth korean celebs ^-^

*me sighing and drooling with envyyyy....... *
hhhaaaaaaaayyyyyyy........ what did i do to deserve this????!!..... hhhaaaaayyyy....

everybody here seems like a city hall fanatics....mmmm.... havent watched it....

anybody watching JDRAMA too?

am just wondering what's hot with jdramas today... been watching Mr. Brain and Bloody Monday.....while am still deciding what korean drama i should watch next......

HAVE A HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!!

@JAVAB
.....mmmmm.... *grinning* i know how you feel..... LABEL YOUR BOXES!!! ^-^

@ 54 Taohua

--Does Shining Inheritance remind anyone else of the drama 1% of Anything?--

Haha, I can't believe you said that. When I first started watching Shining Inheritance, I was impatient and couldn't wait for subs so I started watching 1% Of Anything, because it had a similar storyline and I thought it would keep me satisfied until subs came out for SI.

Unfortunately, it did not. The story was weak for 1OA. There wasn't the delicious backstory of the Evil!Stepmother to keep things interesting. It was very . . bland. Shining Inheritance is like the chicken quesadilla that you take a bite out of and at first it's mild but then you hit the jalapeno peppers and damn, it's spicy! 1OA is . . . oatmeal.

I got stuck on episode 9 of 1OA and haven't been convinced to finish watching it. Just so boring. If you've watched it, does it get any better?

@ mishane.

where to go to watch video of your eye contact w/ SJS?
i'm envious you were acknowledged, even if for your hat!
that's awesome... and ur so non-fangirling... which is awesomer!

JB, we'll be moving this weekend as well, although I won't be carrying or I(hopefully) won't be crushed by any boxes coz I just found out I'm expecting. My poor husband, though...Good luck on your move.

I echo the enthusiasm of everyone who loves City Hall! I am so loving this drama right now. I can't wait for new episodes.

RIP, MJ.

Ok I take back a lot of what I said about city hall (though not all). I'm now on ep 14 and it has gotten so much better since ep 8. I will collect my thoughts down for later but I'm really enjoying it.

Lucky for me since I started on CH so late, I have many more episodes to watch.

Samsookie, I have often wondered how you function as a lawyer with your kdrama obsession. My other lawyer friends work like 80-90 hr weeks. When are you sleeping for god's sake.

@ lb_tmi

I haven't uploaded my video yet. I looked on Youtube because I know the NYAFF puts up their own video of it but I couldn't find it. All I could find for now is this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WTADYJBZU8.

I was sitting to the side, right in front of the announcer that brings him in. On this video, at 0:11 seconds, near the end, is when he looked to the left, glanced at me the last time, nodded and waved at me. Heh. Lol, I'll wait until I get a clearer video and then share the link. Heh, I don't kid myself. I think I'm a fairly attractive female. I do think the hat helped extra tons as there were many attractive young Asian females there and I'm pretty So Ji Sub had a nice wandering eye. :P

Look at you guys, making me into a bigger fangirl than I am! I was so nonchalant during the actual event. Even when we made eye contact, I didn't even wink! Like when I winked at Josh Hartnett at bar we were both at, then we ended up dancing the night away. That's tucked in my mind as my favorite celeb encounter. :)

@55 MEIKO - yap I watched Bloody Monday when it first came out. I loved it - it was so different than the other fun and silly jdoramas I had been watching. I had been looking foward to it because of the 2 main guys who played Takagi and J (both ex-Gokusen boys!) Though I had liked Narimiya Hiroki in Gokusen, it was when I saw Orange Days that he really caught my eye. And I actually liked him better than Miura Haruma in this...his character was just very interesting to watch :) i hope you enjoy it too!

You know the evil stepmom and evil stepsister in Shining Inheritance reminds me of the "CRAZIES" in Stairway to Heaven. At lease in SH they are tamed enough not to kill Eun Soo.

-

Dang! I thought I'm the only one WHO CAN'T SLEEP, WHO DON'T WANT TO GO TO WORK, and WHO CAN'T EAT (ok, i take back the last one since i'm munching on some fries now... kekeke) after CITYAHLL ep17&18.
Reading some comments, i guess i'm still pretty normal - or the rest of the world is extremely insane - whatever it is, i'm glad knowing i'm not alone.

@samsooki,
Thanks for the cc fraud heads up. Yikes! I always trust these online shops for Asian Dramas. I thought they are 100% safe. I only use my cc on DVD purchases online. A few years back I have no intentions of getting a cc, but I applied for one just to be able to purchase MNIKSS DVD. lol
Goodluck to your recaps! Fighting!

"City Hall is one of the first dramas that I started watching while it was still on the air."
-- i know! that's why I was surprised when i first saw your post in soompi.

(wordpress is acting up on me.... weird!)

@60 nycgrl -

"Samsookie, I have often wondered how you function as a lawyer with your kdrama obsession. My other lawyer friends work like 80-90 hr weeks. When are you sleeping for god’s sake."

Well, first, I don't work that many hours. I used to when I worked down on Wall Street (Water Street, actually), but I stopped doing that many hours after I got married - wasn't worth it to kill myself for bonuses and stuff because then my wife would get all my money and i would be dead, hehe!! But, yes, I am kind of suffering for sleep these days, mostly due to k-drama watching. Second, I once billed 86 hours in a week (my peak ever) and I was delirious by Sunday evening. If you have friends doing it continuously for weeks and months, they are crazy robots and not human. At my peak over time, I probably averaged 55-60 hours of billable, no where near 80.

These days, i am desperately hoping for for 3-4 months of continuous and complete suckage that passes for dramas, so that I can get caught up with sleep and everything else.

LOL. :)

Good luck with the move - I hope the weather's better for it there than it is here!

Has anyone seen the k-drama Insoon Is Pretty?

UGH.

I thought episode 1-4 were so good and I had so much hope for this drama. I thought the subject matter was compelling (girl leaves prison and has to be re-integrated into society, has to deal with finding her mother, who turns out to be a popular actress). There's so much potential there for a nice human drama story.

Except.

It got derailed. I'm on Episode 9 and I've given up. I have no clue what story they are trying to tell! It's like they lost sight of the goal. Now, In Soon is an actress? What? Que? I feel like its 2 COMPLETELY different stories just pasted together. And believe me, it does not mesh. I was expecting something more somber and in the tone of Kevin Bacon's 'The Woodsman' but this is nothing like that. They don't even explain what really happened to get her imprisoned.

Has anyone watched this? Has it gotten any better? I've put it away permanently for now but if anyone has seen it and can thinks it's actually. . .good, I might pick it up again. MAYBE.

That said, I started 'Robbers' with Lee Da Hae and it's interesting so far. Lee Da Hae really is a beautiful girl and she keeps my eyes on the screen. Hopefully it doesn't start sucking either.

And something I noticed about j-dramas vs k-dramas.

I find that if I want a nice collection of dramas, ones that are different from each other and have different human interactions and different stories to tell, I should stick with j-dramas. The cliche's there aren't as obvious as they are in k-dramas.

But k-dramas, if you're in the mood for a cliche (which I am sometimes) and really want that romance kick, then you should go for a k-drama. Everything in a k-drama appeals to the romantic in a person.

Which is why I don't think Korean adaptations of Japanese dramas will ever surpass the J-drama. Because I think in a j-drama, it encompasses more than just the romantic aspect of the story, and delves more into social issues and other character interactions, while I think the Korean drama will just make it based on the main pair. I've noticed that most j-dramas have a comprehensive cast that all get equal screen time, while most k-dramas have the main 3 (or 4) who get ALL the screen time.

Of course, this is generalized statement, as I haven't watched enough of either genres to get a good idea, just a general feeling.

@hjkomo

Sorry for not answering you any sooner but I was swamped with work last weekend and even got to read last weeks Open Thread the Tuesday after.
I cannot PM you at Soompi. First I thought I was just too dumb to do it, but then I read that kb had the same difficulties when trying to PM Samsooki.

Well, to make the long story short bought Star in my Heart last week. Nevertheless, thanks for the offer! As you like food, you can ask me for a nice "German" recipe anytime.

@langdon813

Regarding last week:
Did you watch "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall"? I really liked it.
When you like British TV watch "Ultraviolet" a mixture of Vampire and Police drama with a different approach to the topic.
As to being regarded let's politely call it differently after having been counted on as the ultimate movie, TV and book news source for years when turning to Asia I can absolutely emphasize.

@24

I love Black & White but if you liked Fated to love you be aware that Black & White is a crime story first and a human drama / romance second. Just take look at Black & White and then decide.

By the way a colleague in Shanghai mailed today that he bought the first 12 episodes of Black & White in "good" quality with french subtitles for about 3 EUR. LOL!

@ All City Hallers
How is it that every episode of City Hall is better than the last one? The quality of the story telling, pacing, escalation of "romantic feeling" everything is very consistent. It is really my No. 1 at the moment!

@ mishane, word.

I did watch insoon when it was out. I can't resist KHJ and KMJ. (and Lee Wan) but why does the script has to be THIS cringe-worthy lame couple eps in?!@$!%! But Kudos to KHJ, she has that power to be natural even saying the lame-est lines. Sadly, I think KHJ is trapped into another one with Partner.

Good luck in your move, JB! :) Keep your focus on your new beautiful place.

Just made an offer on a house. This is our 5th try, multiple offers again. I think I'll have an ulcer soon...ARGH! So in my chaos, I'm keeping myself insane by dreaming of the day I'll really get to pack and move. ;)

i feel your moving pain! been constantly moving since the end of april, i tell ya! i promise i'll return your elves as soon as they get their lazy asses off my suitcases!

good luck :)) hwaiting! keep some good wine to top off the weekend on a good note :)

helloooo! omg i just finished watching What's Up Fox and I loved it! definitely recommend it to everyone :)

have fun...it's friday!!!!!!

@ 73 linz

--omg i just finished watching What’s Up Fox--

Haha, that's next on my 'romantic kdrama' list. Either that one or 'Witch Yoo Hee' but I'm leaning towards What's Up Fox.

@AnitaLotti - Ya my friend told me that it wasn't a 'romance-driven' show, which is fine with me since there are plenty of those out there. I was just taking a look at the ratings (which of course, are not always indicative of how good a show is) and they were pretty low. But since there are quite a few people recommending this show to me I think I will have to take a peek and see :) And since it's almost done airing, if I end up liking it I won't have to wait for each week's episode! A big plus for me as I get really caught up in the shows I like.

@ mishane, STAY AWAY FR WITCH YOO HEE!

@74
People at Viikii said that the ratings are actually very, very high but counted a bit differently??? Well, I don't know about that, but Black & White builds up the suspense very nicely. You are lucky not to have to wait a week in between the episodes.

@ 76 mookie

Really? It looked cute! And javabeans recapped it. . .although I only read the 1-2 episode recap.

@ AnitaLotti

Oh, no! Sorry you weren't able to PM me. But don't forget to check your cc statement.

re: Ultraviolet - loved it...who could resist Jack Davenport?
but was bummed that is was only one season...I wanted to see more!

..was even more bummed about NY-LON. Now there's a series I would've given an arm and a leg for...to not have had it cancelled on a cliffhanger. :(

Tenant of Wildfell Hall - After years and years of waiting, I was sooo happy when it finally came out on dvd.

@ mishane

Insoon Is Pretty was one of the most underrated dramas of 2007!
but not everyone's cup of tea, I guess...if you don't like PD Pyo's style.

Glad you're liking Robbers, though. Another underrated drama.

Witch Yoo Hee is one that is fun to watch because of the mocking factor. Yeah, it was that bad, but JB's recaps made it oh-so-fun. I think I laughed for days on end after reading recap (15?).

@69 AnitaLotti

I have not seen "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall"; thanks for the recommendation! I've also not seen "Ultraviolet" but I think Stephen Moyer from 'TrueBlood" is in it, is that right? Doesn't matter really, you had me at "vampire". ;-)

And yes, I am apparently now the OFFICIAL WEIRDO in the family. Last Friday I went out to dinner with my sister and a good friend that neither of us had seen in for a while, and in due course had to suffer through my sister's "we're a little worried that she never does anything but watch Korean TV shows; we may need an intervention" speech to our friend.

**insert eyeroll here** I'm to the point now that if they're not willing to see what the fuss is all about, then I'm not willing to take any crap about it.

@74 lovenyc52

Black & White is fantastic, I've really enjoyed it a lot. Of course, it certainly helps that Vic Zhou and Mark Chao are very very cute.

Also, I tried not to do this but I just can't contain myself:

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

Just finished Episode 15 of City Hall and...I need a cold shower. WHOA...that is some man.

This song is so appropriate! After a few weeks in my peri-surgical rotation, I'm moving on to another one at an ICU. I really enjoyed this previous one that I was turning into a scary workaholic, but I am hoping this one will be enjoyable...or a helpful learning experience at the very least!

I am very excited to be catching up on Triple this week! Yeayyy!

@ langdon813

Yes, Stephen Moyer is in Ultraviolet...and NY-LON. Watch NY-LON!!!!

Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Toby Stephens!!!!
okay, Tara Fitzgerald, Rupert Graves and James Purefoy, too. :)

@ 79 hjkomo

--Insoon Is Pretty was one of the most underrated dramas of 2007!
but not everyone’s cup of tea, I guess…if you don’t like PD Pyo’s style.--

See, I want to like it, I really do! But I have no clue where they are going with it. So far, they've made no mention really of Insoon's past. I mean, there was the initial drama of it, but now she's becoming an entertainer?? Wouldn't that come up?? I don't get what they are trying to do with her character. Or with the relationship. She freaked out on the male lead in episode 7 (I think) but I couldn't get for what reason she flipped out.

I don't know. If they had made it a normal drama and took out the part about her becoming famous (which was so WTF to me) I would have liked it. They should have kept it simple, she gets out of prison, goes back to real life, deals with the aftermath of whatever she did or didn't do (also, I'm 9 episodes in and they barely mention the prison thing anymore, which is what the whole show is about!!) and deals with how it will affect her relationships.

Sorry I went all ranty, I just got so confused with the show. Lee Wan's character also confuses me. Who the hell is he? And it's not even set up in a way that I really want to know who he is. I mean, give me something show! I want to WANT to watch!

Happy weekend everyone! Congrats JB for moving out of LA as well. Are you moving within the state? or moving away away? Anyway, soon, it'll be all over and you'll be able to situate yourself happily/comfortably in your new environment.

I used to live there for 9 years and am now living in a tiny town (population of 8000) in Ventura county. I can keep my front door open all day long and nothing happens. my car is unlocked in my driveway as well... The only thing is I still work in LA, not everyday, but I do have to sit on 101 & 405 for 2-4 hours one way each time I go to work! A madness!

Anyway, thanks for the subbers on Viikii, I'm finally catching up with "Triple", it's very cute and refreshing. .. and "Shinning inheritance", I'm with you guys, can't wait till the next episode. Disregarding all the usual predictable K drama characteristics(a sudden misfortune, evil step mom:can't stand her, spoiled family members with entitlement mentalities and on and on...). It's cute and funny enough. I guess partially because, there are no really good Jdramas this season, only one I follow was Atashinchino danshi and it's already over.

Yes, @45 Kender, it was so so ending, yet somehow it felt like it was suitable in a way.

I tired to watch Kimutaku's "Mr. Brain" which put me to sleep and that was it. Nothing else is going on. I check with Woopie(J drama site) from time to time since I like working at home while listening to Japanese to keep me current with the language. May be something more interesting or intriguing next season.

@69 AnitaLotti
"Ultraviolet sounds interesting, I might rent it from netflix.for when I'm traveling. thank you for your info..

Anyway, I'll be working tomorrow selling my jewelry at "lavender festival" in town. But for everybody else, have a great weekend!

i'd force myself to watch Black & White for the Vic factor alone.
i'm shallow that way. it's on my list for summer watching.

I absolutely LOVED witch yoo hee! more for the eye candy tho.
how can anything w/ Dennis Oh, Kim Jung Hoon be bad? Two of my most recent obsessions. YEAH BABY!!! (total bias, as both were pretty bad acting wise)

P.S. JB, Thank you so much for the recaps, they are so helplful on top of being insightful on deciding which ones to watch and so on!

@72, linz

Forgot to say, I really liked "What's Up Fox" too! Great chemistry between Ko Hyun-jung and Chun Jung-myung; and honestly, could he be any cuter?

I saw a photo of him and Gong Yoo recently in their military gear (I think on this site actually). Talk about an overload of adorableness (despite the manly uniforms and buzzcuts)!

@hjkomo
I will give NY LON a try.

@langdon813 (& celestialorigin)
At least someone who listens to my recommendations now...

Excerpt from a telephone conversation today: "What are you going to do this weekend? I know you are stressed by your job, but you really should do something else beside watching Asian drama all the time..."

Did somebody watch "Legend of the Seeker"? Went AWOL from Asia a couple of weeks ago, when I read about it on a blog. Recommended to fantasy, New Zealand and romance fans.

Insoon is Pretty - I started the drama because I thought the premise sounded wonderful and different. Unfortunately, I had to quit the show because it became a mess without direction.

Witch Yoo Hee was...fun as long as you understood it was really bad. I mean, really, the costumed witch scenes? And Dennis Oh...oh please don't open your mouth....

As for j-dramas - anyone seen Ghost Friends?? I've been watching Mr. Brain and it really is very very boring. Boss, another j-drama, is laughable with the female detective making random criminal profiles out of the flimsiest evidence. Outside of Shining Inheritence, I have yet to find my new obsessive drama....

Has anyone seen Man of the Vineyard? I keep trying to watch it, but watching Yoon Eun Hye in another romantic kdrama with the same mannerisms in Goong & Coffee Prince is just boring. Does it get better after Ep3?

I just wanted to send out a thank you to Samsooki and andromytta for helping me get acquainted with downloading and dramafever invites....or maybe I shouldn't be saying thank you because productivity is now at an all time low. Maybe I should now ask for a support group. K-drama is like k-rack for me...totally addicted.

Do not watch Witch Yoo Hee, its bad, and I mean really bad. Even Jae Hee couldn't save that show *shudder*

If Jae Hee and Dennis Oh were the main coupling then it would have been atleast watchable.

As for Jdramas, Yamapi's new show about basketball will be airing soon, my sisters been doing cartwheels ever since it was announced.

I'm back just because I can't get into getting myself organized for tomorrow's show.

@89 b020,
Ghost Friends: it sounded interesting, but same deal, boring. I couldn't go on after the first episode.

Just found this drama "ぼくの妹"　オダギリジョー　長澤まさみ ="My sister" staring Joe Odagiri( isn't he famous?) and Masami Nagasawa on http://www.woopie.jp/channel/watch/13010 and is so far it's promising judging from first 25m. It even has Chinese subs. Anyways, seriously, I'd better get back to work.

De-clutter during moving is a good fengshui!! Just throw away, recycle or give away those things that you have not used them in the past two years!!

Hehe...recently, I have donated 100,000 books to the libraries!! Am now feeling so light!! Planning to donate another 100,000 books by the end of July!! ^__________^

@samsooki,

After your review of City Hall last week, I gave CH another shot. I kind of skimmed your review because I am terrified of spoilers and have stayed away from comment threads ever since because I want to catch up.

I am only at episode 8 because BON subs only just released ep 8 and 9 subs.

Anyway, the first time I stopped watching CH at about ep 3.5 because I hated the caricaturization all the characters. I also found the lead actor Cha Seung Won boring and without charisma. The whole story of small town politics and the provincial fashion show was trite.

Then...then after episode 4, something changed. The story definitely takes a turn for the better and the characters come alive. The conflict is larger, more metaphysical, and more socially conscious, and the dialogue is smarter, incisive, insightful, honest, and soul searching. You can almost see both Kim Sun Ah and Cha Seung Won, both masterfully talented actors, settle into their shoes, sit back, and let out their inner awesomeness. Instead of just two actors parroting lines, they finally became two leads in a story that matters by embodying the souls of their characters.

And now I also think that Cha Seung Won is the bomb (hot bomb) because what is not evident in earlier episodes is how Machiavellian he actually is. Earlier he seemed more a spokesperson for a corrupt politician, but now I can see that he is himself a skilled politician and he knows how to play dirty. I have no idea if he is a good guy or an opportunist or a good opportunist, all of which makes him that much more intriguing. I sense that he is a decent person but can anyone be decent when in politics?

I have no idea where the show is headed, and I like that. I also don't know why the writers chose to open this, what appears to be, very smart drama with four absolutely horrible slapstick episodes. What on earth were they thinking?

I love the references to Hyun Bin in ep 7. Lulz.

Anyway, I am not a good reviewer or an effective writer but I hope people will give CH a shot. I think it is a worthwhile drama. I find myself pausing every few minutes to catch all the dialogue because so much is said rapidly and so much of it post ep 4 or 5 is really good.

The OST is lovely as well.

@89

The Vineyard Man was boring in the first few episodes but it did pick up towards episode 7 so I suggest you either fast forward or stick with it till then.

I love "A Man Who Cant Marry". it's light hearted and less annoying then "Brilliant Lagacy". It's nice to see a korean drama with the two leading ladies get involve on some kind of love triangle.

@ 94 Nom_Kitteh
I find the first 3 episodes of City Hall entertaining - but i'm a big KSA fan.
Seriously, it's episode 4 that did the magic! Even me, I watched ep1,2,3 all because of Kim Sun Ah. I don't find the first 3 episodes bad but i'm still waiting for the spark. And the spark suddenly sparkled at ep4 and never stopped after that.

@ 88 asianromance
You might try to contact the original site and see if your posts can be removed. It's a shot. The problem are that pages are cached -- but I don't know for how long. If you think employers might google you, you might try to explain yourself to them ahead of time. If family members are wondering, take the time to explain where you were at.

We all do stupid stuff when we are young. The problem with the internet is it broadcasts that to the world and for years to come. But try not to be too depressed.

Interestingly, I am seeing more and more of these instances as the younger generation move into the work force and more employers do basic google searches as a standard rule now.

I meant to say "not get involve in a love triangle."