A Night to Remember

This week I didn’t finish watching any new dramas, so I cannot give you any drama reviews, like what I’ve been doing lately.  Instead I’m going to tell you a bit of the local news in Kuala Lumpur which are Korea related.
Last week two very hot stars from Korea were in Kuala Lumpur in the form of Kim Hyun Joong and Song Il Kook. KHJ was on a promotional tour of Asia for the Faceshop brand of Korean cosmetics. 
  
Two fans gathering events were held over the weekend in Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with KHJ’s tour of Asia. One was held on Dec 4^th at the Bukit Bintang Entrance, Pavilion, whilst the other was at the Sunway Pyramid on Dec 5^th.


 
This was the one held at the Pavilion on Dec 4^th at 5pm. Crowds of people had gathered at the venue long before it was supposed to start, as early as 2.30pm. As you all know KHJ has signed up with Bae Yong Joon’s company, KeyEast so it’s only natural that the Bae Yong Joon Fanclub or Family of Malaysia turn out to support BYJ’s protege KHJ. That’s a picture of them above.
   
Purchases of RM50 and above of Face Shop cosmetics entitled the purchaser to get a postcard out of which 200 were selected as the lucky winners of Kim Hyun-joong’s autographed posters.

And for purchases of RM300 and above at The Face Shop, the purchaser received a Special Note Book & Post Card. The Face Shop then shortlisted 10 shoppers to receive Kim Hyun-joong’s autograph on the note book on Dec 4 during the Fans Gathering Event. A further 6 lucky shoppers were shortlisted for an Up Close Session with Kim Hyun-joong. Three (3) shoppers met him at TFS Pavilion, and the other three (3) at the Sunway Pyramid on Dec 5. All 6 lucky shoppers received hampers and took a picture with him.

Song Il Kook on the other hand, was here at the invitation of the Malaysia-Korea TV Content Forum & Showcase, organized by KCC (Korea Communications Commission), KISA (Korea Internet & Security Agency), and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), where he played a role in introducing the Malaysian audience to new Korean TV contents, and he even had an autograph signing session to meet with his Malaysian fans.
And now for SIK’s autograph session and fan meeting. As this was not a fan meeting in the true sense, there was a limit to the number of participants. Those who wished to attend this event had to pre-register and only the first hundred fans would get his autographed picture. Not many people knew about this as there was not much publicity about it. So those people who attended this autograph session were very lucky as SIG could give them more attention as they were only a small crowd.

SIK made his appearance at 3.05pm at the Nikko Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 2^nd 2010 where he held a press conference for about half an hour with about 50 media delegates before he met his fans. There were tables for the media to the front, with seats for the fans to the back. Although there was a limit of 100 fans to this event, there were fans that came as far as Iran, Hong Kong and Singapore just to see him.
Korean  nationals  studying in schools here in Kuala Lumpur, were also among his supporters at this event.

OMG he looks better in person than in his pictures. He’s so handsome and tall with such a slim body and such magnetic eyes. Not only is he blessed with good looks, he is a very nice person, very polite and very generous with his smiles. I’m glad that he’s one of my favorite Korean actors because he’s exactly how I pictured  he would be like. He’s a very down to earth person with no airs at all something we seldom see in the more famous actors of today. Not only did he sign the autographs but he so graciously posed with his fans for photographs. Some of the fans even asked to be hugged by him which he did.

There was even this girl who requested him to sing a birthday song to her as it was her birthday the previous day and that her greatest wish was to hear him sing it to her which he obliged. He jumped off from the stage immediately, to go to her side and he sang “Happy birthday” to her in Korean and gave her a big hug after that.. She was moved to tears as her dream had come true. Now how many celebrities would do that?

Then I heard about how concerned he was about his fans who had gone to the airport to send him off. Seeing that his fans were mostly teenagers and students, he asked his translator to ask them how they were going to go back home as it was quite a distance from Kuala Lumpur and also it was already quite late and did they have transportation. It’s very touching isn’t it to know that he’s so caring.

What I find different from other fan meetings is that his manager stood by without even stopping his fans from making all sorts of requests of him, like posing for individual photographs with him and asking to be hugged by him. You can really get up close and personal to him. I don’t even see any scruffy bodyguards around. That’s why I say, the fans that came for this event are very lucky in that they are not restricted in any way. I hope that Song Il Gook will come to Malaysia again. Good luck to you in your acting career and may you win many more awards.

And now to end my story for today, I’m going to tell you about a night I’ll always remember – the Inspiring Korea Night 2010 organized by KTO Kuala Lumpur for its Saranghaeyo Korea Club members.
But before that I’m going to tell you something about KTO Kuala Lumpur. The KTO Kuala Lumpur office was established in December 2004 It is the regional office for Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei. The main role of KTO is to promote Korean tourism and provide general travel information to the general public.
Korea Plaza was established by the Korea Tourism Organization and is a tourism and cultural centre, found all over the world. Korea Plaza Kuala Lumpur, situated in the heart of the city, plays an important role as a one-stop Korea cultural experience and tourists information centre. It provides the general public with the up-to-date and accurate information on Korean Tourism. Visitors can get helpful information on travel, accommodations, tourist attractions etc, in the form of leaflets, brochures, books and audio-visual presentations. Korea Plaza also provides opportunities and facilities for the public to experience the Korean culture, such as Hanbok trying/photo sessions; Korean food, art and musical instruments exhibition; Korean dramas and movies screening session and many more. Besides that, Korea Plaza also offers free Hangeul (Korean Language) classes, Korean cooking classes, K-pop singing classes, Korea traditional dance classes etc.
Because of the “Korean Wave” that hit the Malaysia shores in the form of Korean Dramas, K-pop music and B=Boys Dancing, Malaysians began to develop a passion for all things Korean. KTO felt the need to keep alive this love and enthusiasm by forming the Saranghaeyo Korea Club or Love Korea Club to cater for this group of people. The SKC is actually a supporters club where its members act as volunteer ambassadors to help promote Korea in Malaysia.
 So on May 22^nd this year, the Saranghaeyo Korea Club held its inauguration ceremony with about 200 members. Some of the things the members were briefed on were the roles and benefits of being a member of the club like the membership card that allows them privileges and discounts at selected Korean outlets. Every time we participated in the events drawn up by KTO, we would be given points.
I consider myself very lucky to be invited to this celebration and award dinner as not all of the SKC members (now more than 1,300) were invited. Only about 350 guests were invited which included travel agents, media partners and a fraction of the Saranghaeyo Korea Club (SKC) members .

So there we were at the Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur, the venue for the night’s event right on the dot at 6.30pm on Dec 2nd 2010 to register ourselves. We were served tteok/Korean rice cakes and light refreshments  in the waiting area before dinner was served.
The evening’s function started off with a welcoming speech by KTO’s Executive Director for Overseas Marketing Mr. Rhee Jae Sung. Some of the distinguished guests included Mr Choi Dong Gyu, the Minister & Consul General from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, Mr. Lee Kwang Sun, the Chairman of the Korean Society in Malaysia, Mr. John Tan, the Vice Chairman of MATTA, and Ms. Chong Yoke Har, Director of International & Marketing Division from Tourism Malaysia.
   
This was followed by a presentation by the Saranghaeyo Korea Club on the club’s activities since it’s inauguration. So far we have participated in the 2010 World Cup Street Cheering events, provided voluntary assistance during the Nanta Performance, held the SKC Members Day where we had a chance to play Korean games and taste Korean cuisine, the Hallyu Fan Club interview by the Chosun Daily from Korea and lastly the Inspiring Korea Night 2010.


The inaugural SKC Board of Directors were officially appointed and presented with their certificates of appointment. SKC Awards were presented to those who had been extraordinarily active in Korean culture and tourism activities held by KTO and Korea Plaza.
Korea Tourism Awards were also presented to those travel agents and media partners that had shown outstanding support and significant in promoting Korea tourism throughout 2010. During the last MATTA fair in September, Korea travel product achieved one of the best-selling records.
  
  
 
 
After this you’ll have to forgive me if I get the sequence of the evening’s program all mixed up because dinner was beginning to be served and I was most likely distracted by the delicious food before me. Dinner was an eight-course mixture of Korean and Chinese dishes and it was one of the best dinners I’ve had. We had Oriental Four Season Combination for the first course followed by Sangyetang Ginseng Chicken Soup, Stir-fried Chicken in Yam Basket, Steamed Seabass in Superior Soy Sauce, Stir-fried Fresh Prawns with Oatmeal Flakes, Braised Tau Kan with Trios Mushroom with Green Vegetables, Bibimbap accompanied with Bulgogi, Kimchi and Seaweed Soup, and lastly the dessert of Double Boiled Chinese Figs with Sea Coconut. But I missed the dessert because I had to go up stage to collect the Microwave oven that I had won in the raffle draw.

  
Let’s see, what was the program like in terms of entertainment? Well, we had dance performances by the Wakaka Crew, Epsilon and Ruff Necks. Then we were entertained with a few songs by our guest singer, Soo Wincci, including the theme song, Menanti Hikmat by Mawi from a Malaysian drama, The Call of Nami Island which was filmed in Korea. There was even a contest I am a Korean Celebrity where the contestants had to dress up like a Korean idol to win prizes. The finale for the night was the raffle draw, I was wishing hard to get a free airline ticket to Korea, actually there were two being up for grabs, I did not get the air ticket but my friend got it. All I got was a microwave oven, well something is better than nothing they say.
It was really a night to remember – good atmosphere, good company, good food, and good entertainment. But what I liked about it most was the unity of the crowd there, their enthusiasm and passion for Korea and all things Korean. Within the dining hall it was entirely a different world altogether. There’s a good feeling  about it. Everyone there was connected to KTO or SKC somehow. There was this lady from the Korean Cooking class, another from the Hangeul class and yet another from the Korean singing class, so you see, everyone’s more or less connected in one way or another. I saw this group of ahjummas from the Bae Yong Joon Fanclub Malaysia.
The Malaysian people have been introduced to the Korean people and the Korean culture through the Saranghaeyo Korea Club and KTO. Kamsa-hamnidah KTO for starting the SKC in Kuala Lumpur and also for the well organized Inspiring Korea Night 2010. This was just a crowd of 350, what if it had been in the thousands?
And so with this I’ll end today’s post.

Ballad of Suh Dong

 

 

This week I only finished one drama, the 55-episode, ‘Ballad of Suh Dong aka Seodong’s Song.’ Apart from that I was also watching six other on-going online dramas namely, Flame of Desire, Queen of Reversal, Dae Mul, Home Sweet Home, Secret Garden and King Geunchogo. Like I’ve said before, these ongoing dramas are very slow as they are only being uploaded 2 episodes each week. But then I have to follow them as they are the latest dramas or else I’ll be left behind in my quest for k-drama. So this week I shall be only telling you about one drama only.

"Sodongyo" is said to be one of Korea's oldest folk songs. According to the Samgukyusa (The Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms) from the Silla Kingdom, the song was written by Sodong, a commoner from the Baekje Kingdom. Hearing that Princess Sunhwa, a daughter of King Chinpyong of the Silla Kingdom was beautiful, he wrote a song saying that the princess visited his room every night and spread the song around. When her father heard the song, he sentenced the princess to be exiled. Sodong then rescued her and took her to Baekje, where they become the royal couple of the country.

Producer Lee Byung-Hun and writer Kim Young Hyun of "Jewel in the Palace (Dae Jang Geum)" fame have again teamed up for yet another great historical drama. The Ballad of Suh Dong is a sad but heart- warming love story between a princess and a commoner, a love that transcends social position.

Whilst "Jewel in the Palace" was set in the Choseon Kingdom (1392-1910), " Ballad of Suh Dong " took place during the Baekje Kingdom (18 B.C. - A.D 660).

You will observe that young and inexperienced actors like Lee Bo Young Jo Hyun Jae and Ryu Jin were cast as the main characters in this drama and they really performed well. Also instead of the usual conflict between Baekje and Shilla that we normally see in other historical dramas, we get something extra, in the melodrama of the young Seo Dong and the Shilla spy Satek Giru, not only over the future of Baekje’s throne but also over the love of the Shilla Princess Sunhwa.

Talk about the 21st century as being an era of information technology, wait till you see the fierce technology war that was going on some 1,500 years ago. The main background of this drama is focused on Taehaksa, Baekje's prestigious institute of science technology. As it was in possession of the most up-to-date technology at that time, the institute was always in danger of industrial espionage from other countries like the Koguryo Kingdom and the Silla Kingdom. So in this drama we not only get to see the splendidly rich culture of the Baekje Kingdom but also their ancestors' passion for the information technology. Various agricultural technologies considered the most up-to-date at that time, are shown in the drama, like how they released earthworms to solve the problems of excessive dryness of the land, and how they used ondol (hot floor) for the first time to decrease the humidity in homes. I was really amazed at how advanced they were then in the field of technology.

The drama also reveals the role of monks as industrial spies at that time, an aspect of monks in the past that is rarely focused on. At that time monks were the advance guards of intelligence war. The leaders of the three countries made the best use of the monks' mobility as they were allowed to move freely from country to country on sacred missions.

This drama unfolds the story surrounding Seo Dong’s painful experiences which stems from his roots. Seo Dong’s father was the King of Baekje but he was forced to escape in order to save his life. With a group of faithful followers Seo Dong ends up living his life in the Shilla province. While he is from a completely different background, his identity is kept from others and himself in order to survive. As Seo Dong grows up he becomes fast friends with the Shilla’s princess and the two eventually fall in love! But is this possible? Especially as Seo Dong learns of his roots and eventually becomes the King of Baekje?

The first 28 episodes detail Seo Dong's childhood, his first meeting with Sunhwa, and his maturation at Taehaksa. The last 27 episodes sums up the ante in terms of intrigue, contains the thrilling conclusion to the series, with Seo Dong and Mokrasu fighting to keep the secret of Baekje's Crown Prince intact, and Satek Giru plotting with Buyeo Seon to disrupt their plans.

Don’t know whether you all have noticed but the more I watch historical dramas, I’m beginning to think that the Korean kings of yesteryears were all romantics at heart. Just look at the dramas like Dong Yi, Yi San, Jumong, Kindom of the Winds and Ballad of Suh Dong, it’s all there! Everybody loves romance stories and that this why these types of dramas draw all the crowds.

So if you still haven’t seen this drama I would like to urge you to watch this beautiful drama set in the historic times of the Baekjae and Shilla Dynasty and the exciting turn of events that follow Seo Dong’s life in his fight for the throne of Baekje. You won’t be disappointed!

Special thanks and appreciation to the following:                                            

Articles and Photos © courtesy

http://www.crunchyroll.com/library/Ballad_Of_Suh_Dong/photos

http://www.hancinema.net/korean_drama_Seodongyo-picture_

Star in my Heart Sungkyunkwan Scandal

Some friends from out of state came for a visit the last week-end of October and we had a good time painting the town red. Lucky me, this year I had two birthday parties, one on the actual date with family and the other, a belated one from the visitors and friends..
For the past two weeks I could not make use of my Microsoft Word, I woke up last Monday morning to find the software missing. I certainly did not remove it from my computer, I don’t know how it just vanished into thin air. Unfortunately my friend, the computer wizard was away on a holiday so I had to wait till he came back to reinstall it for me.
Well it’s working now and time for me to get started on the much delayed post of mine. Today I’m going to tell you about two good dramas I saw lately, Star in my Heart and Sungkyunkwan Scandal.

Star in my Heart is an old drama from the nineties whereas the latter is a recent one. Why the oldies you may ask, you see I have finished almost all of the newer dramas so I have no choice but to start on the oldies. I picked it because of the cast namely Ahn Jae Wook, Cha In Pyo, the late Choi Jin Shil (if you remember, she committed suicide) and Jun Do Yun. Ahn Jae Wook sang some very lovely songs in this drama.

This is a classic Korean drama, the evergreen Cinderella story but with an added twist. This Cinderella is not a stepchild, but an adopted one. When the man who adopted her passed away, his wife and two children a son and a daughter, made life difficult for her but our Cinderella here will not take all the bullying hands down and fights back. She even has two Prince Charming on her side, to help transform her life.

Yun Hee, the adopted daughter becomes friends with Min Hee, from a wealthy family who aspires to be a singer despite his father's objections. They eventually fell in love with each other but the spoilt ‘wicked sister’ also had her eyes on Min Hee and tried her best to separate the two lovers.

Through Min Hee, Yun Hee meets his friend, Joon Hee, also wealthy, a top fashion design executive. Joon Hee is attracted to her because she resembles his ex-girlfriend. But being friends with Min-Hee, Joon-Hee will not compete with his friend openly and he leaves it to Yun Hee to make her choice as to who will be her Prince Charming. So the plot weaves around these three lives. If you want to know the ending you’ll have to watch the drama for yourself, to find out, as I’m not telling.

"Wish Upon a Star” has it all – great story, wonderful cast, unforgettable music, fashion, love, hate, dreams, laughter, tears and many memorable moments. That’s why I love this drama though it may be an oldie.
I have enclosed a video of the lovely song ‘Forever’ sung by Ahn Jae Wook from this drama. Enjoy it!
 The airing of the 20^th episode of Sungkyunkwan Scandal recently saw the finale of this charming drama. Being a lover of period dramas, it was only natural that I would follow it. Especially for those of you who have seen ‘Yisan’ you will understand the storyline better. Surprisingly this drama managed to attract even those who were non lovers of period drama. I’m sure that you all must know the reason why? Yes, it’s because of Micky Yoochun  the popular singer, who plays one of the leading roles, Lee Seon-joon. Another reason might have been that this drama was different from other historical dramas in that it was all about the younger generation thus catching the attention of the younger viewers. This drama was adapted from an original novel by Jung Eun-gwol, a bestseller which has sold over 500,000 copies since being published in 2007.


Sungkyunkwan Scandal is set in Sungkyunkwan University in the late Joseon era during the reign of King Jeongjo, revolving around the exploits and love stories of four youths. When her younger brother’s illness worsens and their family is in danger of being evicted from their house due to lack of money, Kim Yoon Hee enters the school under his name, disguised as a boy in her desperation to cure his sickness. There, she becomes friends with the intelligent and upright Lee Sun Joon, the playboy Goo Yong Ha and the rebellious Moon Jae Shin.

 

Everyone was full of praise for the wonderful acting skills of Micky Yoochun. He may be a big star where singing is concerned but he’s still a rookie when it comes to acting and yet he managed to pull it off. It had been different in the beginning; when he was first selected for the part, there was great concern regarding it and numerous simulations regarding the casting floated on the Internet that he who has almost no acting experience whatsoever was chosen to play a leading role in this drama. Well, judging from the very good reception of this drama, looks like he has proven his critics wrong. Let’s hope we get to see more of him as an actor in more dramas to come.

I found the Sungkyunkwan‘s story refreshing and entertaining. What could have been just a mediocre drama about the social, cultural and political issues at that time, turned out to be above average and even managed to come in the top 10 dramas during the time it was aired on TV. Not only that, the track (Found You) also managed to top the charts on Soribada, Daum, and Cyworld. We must also not forget about the rest of the supporting cast as they also played a big part towards the success of Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Song Joong-ki, perfectly reenacted his role as the rich playboy Goo Yong-ha, Park Min-yeong, also pulled off her role as a woman in the disguise of a man easily and here we see her as a bright boy rather than a beautiful lady. Then there’s also Yoo Ah In as the rebellious Moon Jae Shin. They were wonderful in their respective roles.

The romance has been woven into the drama in keeping with the original novel and it sort of makes this drama more inviting and attractive to the non historical/period lovers. Don’t know about you all but I just love this drama! For those of you non historical/period drama lovers, don’t let the setting put you off from watching it. The characters sort of grow on you! If you still haven’t seen it I encourage you to watch it, you won’t regret it!

Special thanks and appreciation to the following:                                             Photos © courtesy
http://kbsworldi.com/vshow_eng.aspx?vshow=194
http://www.koreanmovie.com/Star_in_my_Heart_kdphotogallery_164/

Dong Yi

Dong Yi or Jewel in the Crown came to a close recently with the airing of its 60^th episode thus ending another great historical drama. So today I thought I’d like to tell you about this drama.

During the period this drama was televised on air ‘Dong Yi’ was among the weekly list of the top10 dramas. Coincidently, the renowned director, Lee Byung Hoon, of this drama was also the director of another mega historical drama ‘Dae Jang Geum’ ‘or Jewel in The Palace’. The two ‘Jewels’ are a must see for Korean historical drama lovers.

Filled with pageantry, romance, adventure and action this drama is sure to please its audience. Like most historical dramas Dong Yi has its fair share of conspiracy, jealousy, rivalry, love, hate, betrayal, loyalty and the fight for power. Anyway it gave me many hours of enjoyment watching this drama but sometimes the wait for the following episodes to be uploaded each week was a real torture indeed. You see we had to depend on the translators for the English subtitles.

‘Dong Yi’ is a moving historical drama based on a true story, set in the Chosun Dynasty of old Korea, during the reign of King Sukjong.

During the Joseon Dynasty, Dong Yi has a peaceful and happy childhood until her father and brother are framed for killing nobles and executed. Determined to clear her family's name, she enters the palace as a servant to find a court lady who could be the key to finding out the truth.
With her resilience, persistence and strong sense of justice, she soon gains the favor of King Suk-jong and finds an ally in Queen In-hyeon as she battles the wiles of the devious Jang Hee-bin who will stop at nothing to be queen.

The story focuses on the tumultuous life of Dong Yi,who gains the trust of Queen Inhyeon and later the favor of the king who takes her as a royal concubine with the rank of sook-bin and where she shone ever so brilliantly. It also depicts how Dong Yi cleverly maneuvers through the deadly political infighting in the royal courts in order to survive and protect her son, Yeongjo, fathered by the king and who was to become the 21st king of Joseon, . She raises her son into a well-balanced and educated person through her strict discipline. She becomes embroiled in a fierce battle against Queen Jang Hee-bin over whose son will ascend the throne.

Jang Hee Bin is another royal concubine, much loved by King Sukjong but the Queen Mother detested her and had her exiled from the palace. She comes out of exile later on and returns to the palace, whereupon she bears a son to the king. She had this great ambition to become queen herself and plotted to depose of Queen Inhyeon with the help of her family members, namely her brother and mother and some of the high ranking court officials who supported her. Queen Inhyeon was framed by her for a crime she didn’t commit and the king removed her status and exiled her, after which she was crowned queen. But her greed, jealousy and hate was to bring her own downfall in the end. The conspiracies seem to be endless in this drama. She has a bitter rivalry against Dong Yi throughout the episodes and always opposes Dong Yi on every matter they confront.

Dong Yi is also the story of King Sukjong who succeeds in reasserting the royal powers of the throne, which had been weakened by court politics. Ascending the throne at the tender age of 14, he grows into a charismatic and excellent leader. He has a strong will to get things done and strikes fear among his subjects. He is impressed with Dong Yi’s charming personality and intellect and later falls deeply in love with her.

Not to be outdone are the two princes born of different mothers but who were so friendly towards each other. I even shed a few tears, they were so touching in their roles.

Then there is the sacrifice someone had to make in favor of the king. During the day, Cha Cheon-soo works at the royal police station, inspecting bodies suspected of dying from foul play, while at night, he assumes the identity of the leader of the underground Geomgye secret society that fights corruption and misdeeds. He dedicates himself to protecting Dong Yi, whom he loves dearly.

So now that Dong Yi has ended I will have to look for another historical drama to watch. I can’t make up my mind, there are so many on my waiting list. By the way are you all watching Sungkyunkwan Scandal? I love it! I’ll be so sad when it ends soon as there are only a few episodes left. So see you again next week.

Special thanks and appreciation to the following:
Photos and articles © courtesy

http://todayshottopic.com/2010/08/02/dong-yi-synopsis-and-ost/

http://www.dongdrama.com/dong-yi-upcoming-historical-korean-drama-2010.html

http://www.hancinema.net/korean_drama_Dong_Yi.php#synopsis

The Kingdom of the Winds

It’s a good thing that I saw ‘Jumong’ first because ‘The Kingdom of the Winds’ is the sequel to it. In this drama, King Jumong has already passed away whilst King Daeso is still alive. The drama is about the life of King Jumong's son, King Yuri and 3rd grandson, Muhyul, who later became King Daemusin of the Goguryeo Kingdom.

Coincidently, Song Il Gook, who played King Jumong in the drama of the same name, also plays Jumong's grandson Muhyul in this drama, ‘The Kingdom of the Winds.’ Of course I enjoyed both the dramas tremendously because Song Il Gook is one of my favorite actors.

The Kingdom Of The Winds drama is actually adapted from a manhwa (South Korean comics) by Kim Jin. The drama depicts Muhyul as a person who was born with a supposed curse that he would kill his parents, siblings, son and even destroy his own country. His father, King Yuri, feared that this prophecy would come true, but couldn't bring himself to kill his own son, so he asked his elder son Haemyeong to take the baby to Jolbon, to be raised as a commoner. The baby was named Muhyul for he no longer had a beating heart nor warm blood in his veins.

 

So Haemyung took Muhyul to his Chief Decorator friend, Hye-Ap who worked in King Jumong's grave. Twenty years have passed and Muhyul had become a grown up man who didn't know anything about his true identity.

The drama focuses on Muhyul and his nefarious fate. In an attempt to kill King Daeso of Buyeo, Haemyung, Muhyul and their followers failed, leading to Haemyung giving up his own life to appease the wrath of King Daeso. Upon hearing this, the traumatized Muhyul (who thought that Yuri was behind Haemyung's death) was determined to seek revenge. So he joined forces with The Black Shadows secret army of Buyeo, where he met Dojin, an assassin in that army who was once a prince of Buyeo. He also met Yeon, a Buyeo Princess who was a physician. Dojin, who had been raised with Yeon since they were children, noticed the growing feelings between Muhyul and Yeon, so he held a grudge against Muhyul.

Throughout the course of 36 episodes, Muhyul goes through many trials and tribulations to defy his nefarious fate, and eventually emerges as a powerful king.

The Kingdom of the Winds features wonderful cinematography and beautiful music score as well as lots of grand battle scenes, conspiracies, political intrigue, and assassination plots.

I was quite impressed that the thirty-something actor, could play a teenaged Muhyul so convincingly. Song Il Gook managed to capture the mannerisms of a young brat even down to the way he stood and walked! By the way did you know that the portrait of Princess Yeon in Episode 4 was actually drawn by Song Il Gook himself?

Every episode was so exciting that I didn’t want it to end. I want to know what happened to his son, Hodong, that he had with Princess Yeon, whether he became king or not and also if Muhyul had any children with his queen.

The Kingdom of the Winds won multiple KBS drama awards in 2008:-

§ 2008 KBS Drama Awards: Best Couple Award Song Il Gook (Prince Moo Hyul) and Choi Jung Won (Princess Yeon)

§ 2008 KBS Drama Awards: Top Excellence – Actor Song Il Gook   

§ 2008 KBS Drama Awards: Mini Drama Excellence Award - Actor Jung Jin Young (King Yuri)

§ 2008 KBS Drama Awards: Mini Drama Excellence Award – Actress Choi Jung Won (Princess Yeon)

I would like to recommend this drama to all lovers of historical dramas. It’s an award winning drama, so it should be good. See you again with another drama to share with you.

Love is.....

After finishing two dramas which I enjoyed very much, Jumong and Phoenix, I would like to recommend them to those of you if you still haven’t seen them, especially if you are fans of Song Il Gook and Lee Seo Jin. One is a historical drama while the other is a modern day drama, but they both focus on the LOVE theme. Love does not necessarily mean only romance though, as you will see when you watch these two dramas.

Don’t let the 81 episodes of Jumong put you off as this drama is action packed and quite addictive once you’ve started on it. Playing the leading role of Jumong is the very popular actor Song Il Gook who has starred in dramas such as A Man Called God, The Kingdom of the Winds, Lobbyist, Emperor of the Sea, Terms of Endearment, Bodyguard and Did We Really Love. This drama portrays great emotions, you can feel the anguish, the rage, the sadness, the love, the rivalry, the jealousy, the hatred, the frustration, the agony and the pain. What I loved to see were the elaborate costumes and the accessories. Even the armored vests were so well designed. I just loved the wedding scene of Jumong and Lady So-seon (Han Hye Jin) looking so splendid in red with their golden crowns (which we can still see in the museums of Korea today.) Han Hye-jin has starred in dramas such as Terroir, Jejungwon, Be Strong, Geum-Soon, Romance  and 1% of Anything.

This is the story of Jumong who lived longing for the chance to meet his father, who was in fact his teacher, during a short period of time in his life, only that he didn’t know it then. He loved a woman but ended up marrying a different one and eventually broke up with her, but all these trials and sadness did not get in the way of his destiny. His legacy to the Korean people was the great historical triumph of winning back the skies of the Old Joseon and establishing the Goguryeo Dynasty.

It’s also the story of So Seo-no, a wise and strong queen, who had the intelligence and foresight to look out for the future generations but because she was a woman she could not live her dreams. She was not afraid of death but because she was from a weak nation, she had to bear a pain more painful than death. Although she couldn’t become the love of a lifetime to a certain man, she stands up to be a most powerful and wise leader. The first queen history remembers, in a time when love was lavished, yet not considered everything.

Then there’s Dae So, jealously itself, who as a child lost all his father’s love to Jumong. As an adult he bore a scar from not being able to be with the woman he loved. He brought Jumong’s father to his death and did everything he could to take Soo Seo-no away from Jumong. On the other hand there’s Geum Wa, an affectionate king of Bu-yeo who fought in a war against the Han Nation alongside Hae Mo-soo.  The two shared a friendship even thicker than blood but eventually surrendered to the Han nation after which he betrayed Hae Mo-soo. He later took in Hae Mo-soo’s wife, Lady Yu-hwa , a woman who lived every day longing for Hae Mo-soo, as his own wife, when Hae Mo-soo was presumed dead. He took care of Jumong, as his own with both love and hatred and a very heavy sense of guilt. Actually the King was also in love with Lady Yu-hwa long ago but he gave in when he knew that Hae Mo-soo was also in love with her. So Jumong grew up as the third prince inside the palace, hated by the queen, Queen Won-hu and his two older brothers, but loved by the king. One day, during a quest to find the legendary artifacts of the kingdom, Jumong’s brothers plotted against him and he nearly died, only to be saved by So Seo-no, a merchant's daughter whom he eventually fell in love with.  At the same time, Prince Dae-so, the elder son of the king also fell for her when he saw her. Love was in the air and that was when the rivalry and hatred first stemmed between Prince Dae-so and Jumong. It was obvious that So Seo-no loved Jumong which made Prince Dae-so even more jealous of Jumong. So the story develops from there. There was also the younger prince, Prince Yeong-po, a weakling and not that intelligent, who also harbored the idea of becoming the crown prince too. It was a well-known fact that Jumong was not good in martial arts and sword fighting, so his mother sent him for secret training under Musong (Head Guard of a Secret Prison) built in a cave outside the city. And that was where Jumong met his real father, the legendary Hae Mo-su, only that, he was unaware of the fact then.   

So Seo-no knew that she could not refuse Prince Dae-so’s request that she become his concubine, so she married one of her father’s trusted employees who was actually in love with her. He knew about her love for Jumong and yet he was willing to wait until she could forget about Jumong. They eventually had two sons but he died in a war with another tribe. So Seo-no was very intelligent, wise and courageous and was not afraid to speak her mind which made her a lot of enemies.

Jumong was very heartbroken when he learnt of So Seo-no’s marriage but he didn’t know of the great sacrifice she had made, as she was still very much in love with Jumong, just to avoid becoming the concubine of Prince Dae-so, whom she disliked. So he got married to Ye-so-ya, someone whom he saved and brought back with him. As Jumong was living outside the palace most of the time fighting one war or other in trying to fulfill his father’s dream of uniting the whole of Korea as one strong unified nation, he never even saw his son Yuri being born. It was Jumong’s destiny to marry his first love, So Seo-no, although it was more of a marriage of convenience so to speak. The alliance of So Seo-no’s and Jumong’s armies brought them victory but in order to stop the division of allegiance as both parties wanted their respective leaders to be king, So Seo-no agreed to marry Jumong though she knew that Jumong was pining and looking for his wife and child who had escaped from the palace without any trace. As fate would have it, his wife, Ye-so-ya and son, Yuri, did manage to find him during his wedding to So Seo-no but they left without meeting Jumong because Ye-so-ya felt that it was more important that Jumong fulfill and realize his and his father’s dreams to build a new country.

One thing that I loved the most about this drama is the theme of sacrifice and true love. The women in this drama truly give their all to their loved ones without expecting anything in return. The love that is portrayed in this drama is even bigger than the history itself. ‘Love’ seems to be the one common denominator across people of all generations and nations. ‘Love’ gets swept away with the waves of time and also gets hurt with biased views in societies, but it also creates a new kind of history by wrestling against adversity and the trials of time. True love, which is uncommonly seen in history, is re-drawn through this drama of Korea’s once forgotten history. Here we see the sacrifices two women had to make for the sake of one man, Jumong. The first one was when So Seo-no got married to someone else instead of Jumong, the second, when Ye-so-ya left after seeing her husband being married to So Seo-no and the third when So Seo-no left after Ye-so-ya and Yuri were reunited with Jumong again so that they could be in their rightful place beside Jumong. Isn’t this what love is all about, the giving.

And now for the other drama ‘Phoenix’ also on the LOVE theme.  Perhaps my judging of this drama may be a bit biased since my heart-throb, Lee Seo Jin, is acting in it. Who doesn’t like to see dramas with nice looking actors and actresses?

Love is timing. Love needs just the "right time". It's not because you loved him or her less that you parted. Heaven brings you your soul mate when the time is just "right". "Phoenix" shows you this heaven's work.

There is a young couple who desperately fell in love but who couldn't be together because the time wasn't just right for them. Years pass by and these two meet again. And the trick of fortune switches their situation and environment. A daughter of a millionaire has now become a dometic helper suffering from the grim realities of life. On the other hand, an orphan self-supporting student is now an accomplished wealthy businessman. Now these two people are looking at the world with different eyes. The childlike girl has finally learned the harshness of the world and the guy with once twisted mind has learned to enjoy the latitude of the mind. In the end, these two start to understand each other, thus arriving at the "right time".

There are four main actors/actresses in this drama, namely, Jang, Sae-Hoon, Lee Ji-Eun, Yoon, Mi-Ran, and Suh, Jung-Min.
Our hero, Jang, Sae-Hoon (Acted by Lee Seo-Jin) was raised by his father and grew up with great ambitions for success and fame. Then he lost his father in a car accident and started working part-time job at a gas station to make his living. His life was a hard one indeed but he's a natural born genius who has never missed a scholarship in school. One day out of the blue, a girl, Ji-Eun came storming into his life, a girl of a completely different background and character from himself. Knowing just too well of the harsh reality and of what awaits them ahead, he pushes her away. Ji-Eun however, is keen to get his heart and in the end, they get married. But as he expected, their marriage life was not a rosy one and Ji-Eun soon leaves him.
After signing the divorce papers, he got on a plane heading for New York and a "new life". After a series of all kinds of ups and downs, he accomplishes the "American Dream" and becomes a newly polished person, William Jang.
10 years have passed and he returns to Korea. Maybe it's a twist of fate, He finds himself standing in front of her once again, only this time, he has someone, beside him, a girl named Mi-Ran who used to study   together with Ji-Eun in Boston. Ten years ago, he had nothing to offer Ji-Eun but he loved her with all of his heart. Can he really let her go now that she's come back into his life again?
Then there’s our heroine, Lee Ji-Eun who had grown up doing everything she liked,  in other words, she was a spoilt brat  Her father was the successful CEO of a textile group while her mother was a hopeless and immature lady who only knows to live luxuriously.

She comes home from Boston for holidays and as usual, she goes around acting like a spoiled little brat. One day, suddenly Sae-Hoon comes into her life and she desperately falls for him. But naturally, her parents are not too happy  about it. Ji-Eun doesn't give up here and purposely gets pregnant. She leaves her parents and her luxurious life behind and starts her life with Sae-Hoon in a tiny weeny room. But very soon, she wakes up to  reality and starts to get tired of her life of destitution. As misery loves company, she gets a miscarriage and realizes she can't die for love. She gives a point-blank "no" and leaves Sae-Hoon. After divorce, upon hearing that Sae-Hoon is leaving Korea, she drives like crazy to the airport thinking it'd be her last chance to get him back. But again fate is still cruel to her and takes her father away in a car accident. With her father's sudden death and the fall of her family, hopeless Ji-Eun picks up the phone and calls Sae-Hoon who, without knowing her situation, coldly turns her down. She bites hard towards the harsh world and to Sae-Hoon as well.
10 years have also passed for her. Now a 32 year old divorcee, Ji-Eun is a completely different person. With a maniac-depressive mother and trouble maker sister, she has now become the bread winner of her family, totally different from the reckless little brat she was.
And another love comes knocking on her door. Jung Min is no doubt the perfect prince charming every girl would die for. Then, again she finds someone whom she desperately wanted to get off her mind but whom she just couldn't forget. Now her so-called ex-husband Sae-Hoon turns up in front of her. And the twist of their fates makes them meet as client and worker.
Yoon, Mi-Ran (Acted by Jeong Hae-Yeong,) daughter of a rich real estate agent, she grew up in a wealthy, carefree environment. Somehow, she has always felt somewhat inferior to Ji-Eun. Without knowing Sae-Hoon was once married to Ji-Eun, she gets to know Sae-Hoon at one Christmas donation party. She also desperately falls for him and decides to make him hers doing everything possible. She did manage to get Sae-Hoon to be with her but this was due to a car accident. The accident makes her live in a wheel chair. Feeling guilty and responsible for the accident, Sae-Hoon decides to marry her. Things get more complicated when Mi-Ran learns of Sae-Hoon's ex-wife. She then becomes more obsessed with Sae-hoon in order not to lose him to her lifetime rival Ji-Eun. She even hides that she can now walk again...
Then there’s Suh, Jung-Min (Acted by Eric Moon)  the prince charming of Suh-Rin group. The term "Prince Charming" always comes with his name. He seems to have everything: the colorful background as the heir of Suh-Rin, perfectly good-looking face, gentleman-like manners, talents in every sports. Maybe it could even be said that the word "perfect" is made for this kind of person.
When he graduated from a prestigious university in Boston with honors, people were putting highest hopes on him. However even to him was a twisted fate...
He can never forget the day when he lost his twin brother. Only if he had not shouted out to his brother..".Come on, you can do better than that. Beat me!" He has been feeling guilty for the accident ever since as if to revenge himself on his twisted fate, he just goes on enjoying living a life of a debauchee. He's got everything but himself. Then fate brings him Ji-Eun...

So in this drama we have 2 men fighting for the same lady and 1 very obsessive and jealous lady fighting for one of the men. Which one will the lady choose, the man from her past or the present?  I won’t tell you, so you’d better watch this drama if you want to know the ending. One thing I want to say is that I certainly learnt a lot about love from this drama.

Will tell you about The Kingdom of the Wind in my next posting..

My Addiction to Korean Dramas

 

I need help! Yes, is there a rehab center to cure my addiction to, no, NOT DRUGS but KOREAN DRAMAS??? Of late, my lifestyle has been totally changed and everything has been brought to a standstill. My social life is lacking and I don’t go out that often these days like previously. It’s nothing but Korean drama, day in and day out. No day passes without my sitting in front of my computer watching not one but several dramas, one after another. Every day it’s a Korean drama marathon for me. You see, the episodes of the newer ongoing dramas will only be released one or two at a time and it’ll be another week before more episodes are uploaded. So to kill time in between I started watching the videos of the completed dramas, which stemmed my addiction to Korean dramas. I enjoy these completed dramas more as I can breeze through the episodes uninterrupted without any break in the sequence of the episodes.

Before, when I had to depend on the airing of Korean dramas on TV or bought/borrowed DVDs, I was not that much addicted. But now with the free watching Korean drama sites online it’s sheer heaven. I think at the rate I’m going I’ll finish watching all the Korean dramas in no time at all. To be frank, I only sleep about 4 hours per day and yet I do not feel sleepy or tired at all. My only complaint is that I wish I could find a more comfortable chair for the long hours I sit in front of the computer. I’ve tried a few but I have yet to find the perfect one. Got any suggestions anyone?

I have to apologize for neglecting to update my blog of late due to this addiction of mine. So I hope that you’ll forgive me for it. It’s not that I don’t want to continue to blog, it’s just that I forget or rather, find the time to do it just like the many other things I’ve stopped doing due to this recent addiction of mine. But today I feel that I need to tell you why I haven’t written for quite a while. So in future if you come to my blog and you see that it has been a while since I updated it, then you’ll know the reason why it’s so.

If, in the past the names of Korean actors and actresses have meant nothing to me, today it’s a different story. I can rattle off their names without any effort and I even have a few favorites whose dramas I always watch first before others and I’ve even joined their fan clubs. Among my favorites are Lee Seo Jin, Bae Yong Joon, So Ji-Sub, Ju Ji-Hun, Daniel Henney, Kwon Sang-woo, Song Seung heon, Lee Byung-hun, Lee Hyun Woo, Park Shi Hoo, Kim Nam Gil, Kim Hyun Joong, Lee Min Ho and Lee Joon Hyuk for the men and Han Ga In, Park Eun Hye, Chae Rim, Son Ye-jin, Choi Ji-woo, Song Hye Kyo, Eugene, Yoon Eun Hye and Kim Jung Eun for the ladies.

My favorite genre is historical/costume/period dramas. Even from school days history had been my pet subject. My introduction to Korean historical drama was through Jang Dae Geum or Jewel in the Palace. This drama also introduced me to Korean Royal Cuisine, making it all the more enjoyable for me as I love to cook. From then onwards I developed a love for Korean food, I started to patronize the Korean restaurants and even surfed on Korean Cookery sites to look for Korean recipes. So now I’m not only a lover of Korean Drama, I’m also a lover of Korean Food and all things Korean.

A friend gave me the DVDs of Queen Seon Duk as a present. It was a beautiful drama with the usual rivalry and jealousy in the king’s court and the battle between two powerful women, the evil Mishil and the intelligent, brave and young Queen Seon Duk (the first Queen of Silla in the history of Korea). It was about the life of Seon Duk as a princess until she became queen and the tragic love story between her and Bi-dam. I became a fan of Kim Nam Gil who played the part of Bidam. I think this drama also helped him to become a superstar. His latest drama was in Bad Guy where he played a leading role, Other dramas he’s acted in are Terroir, Several Questions That Make Us Happy, When Spring Comes, Lovers, Goodbye Solo and Be Strong Geum Soon

Dong Yi, set during the reign of King Sukjong during the Joseon dynasty, focuses on a water maid, Dong Yi, who gains the trust of Queen Inhyeon and later the favour of the king. Dong Yi becomes a concubine with the rank of sook-bin and bears a son who will later become the 21st king of Joseon, As usual there’s always rivalry, jealousy, hate and treachery in the king’s court and each episode is full of excitement. This is an ongoing drama and should be ending soon and has been on the top ten list of ratings each week. So it shows that there are many people like me who enjoy historical dramas.

I was so happy when I came across the completed videos of Yi San. So while waiting for the weekly episodes of Dong Yi, I was watching Yi San (77 episodes) which I finished in less than a week. I think I like this better than Dong Yi because my heart-throb, Lee Seo Jin was starring in it. I loved the OST ‘The Promise’ very much which I have downloaded here. I cried a lot too when I was watching this drama. Actually, the story line is almost about the same, the two Kings took commoners as their royal concubines who were well loved by the queens although there was enmity between the other concubines. Coincidently, the son of King Sukjong, Yeongjo, was the 21^st king of Joseon while the son of Crown Prince Sado, Jeong-Jo, became Joseon’s 22nd King.

Yisan is about the life of King Jeong-Jo, who is well remembered in Korean history as one of Korea’s greatest Kings who loved the people and reigned for the commoner.

When he was the Crown Prince, King Jeongjo met with Hong Guk-yeong, a controversial politician who first strongly supported King Jeongjo's accession and toiled to improve the king's power. King Jeongjo went through many turbulent times but overcame them with the aid of Hong Guk-yeong. However due to his great desire for power Hong Guk-yeong ended up being expelled.

King Jeongjo was known as an open-minded leader who implemented “tangpyeongchaek,'' an engagement policy toward rival factions intended to give people equal footing in politics despite death threats from multiple sources.

He made various reforms throughout his reign, notably establishing  Gyujanggak, an imperial library, which was part of his reform efforts to improve the cultural and political stance of Joseon and to recruit gifted officers to run the nation.
Also, the library was created to lessen the power of various wealthy aristocrats and relatives of the queen, who had frequently plagued the Joseon era.

He also spearheaded bold new social initiatives, opening government positions to those who were barred because of their social status.

Jeongjo had the support of the many Silhak scholars and they in turn, supported Jeongjo's regal power. King Jeongjo's reign also saw the further growth and development of Joseon's popular culture.

Jeongjo spent much of his reign trying to clear his disgraced father's name, who as Crown Prince Sado was put to death by his own father, King Yeongjo (Jeongjo’s grandfather).
He moved the court to Suwon to be closer to his father's grave and immersed himself in building Hwaseong Fortress, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to guard his father's grave.

Another historical drama that I liked was Damo, again acted by Lee Seo Jin although I didn’t quite like the ending where all the leading characters died.

I watched Hwang Jini because I’ve a passion for hanboks and there were many beautiful ones in this drama. I have just started on Jumong (81 episodes), while The Iron Princess or Empress Chun Chu (78 episodes), Princess Ja Myung Go (39 Episodes), Iljimae (20 Episodes), The Return of Iljimae (24 Episodes) and Chuno are still on my waiting list.

Apart from the historical dramas I also like family orientated and romance dramas like ‘Family’s Honor’ and ‘Loving you a Thousand Times’. I do watch the current favorites too. Too much of the same thing will be boring too. So guess that’s about all for now. So, if in future you see that my blog has not been updated you‘ll know the reason why. Can’t stop watching Korean dramas!!!!