140504 All About 2014 Park Yuchun’s Housewarming Party in Seoul (Updating)

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Comics

When I was a young girl, whenever we visited my grandparents every weekend, I would like to run over to the small magazine store across the road to buy my favourite comic books with money given by my father.

I had a few of series that I follow. I cannot really remember them now. Most are stories for girls like Princess Sapphire and Candy Candy. But I also read other stories like “Hao Xiao Zi” and even classic Chinese comics like “Lao Fu Zi”!

But I loved most are the following:

Princess Knight (Princess Sapphire)
This is a story about a Western princess being disguised as a Prince to be the heir to the throne and her adventures.

Candy Candy
This is about an orphaned girl in USA and her story with her childhood friends and her love. It traces her life as a little baby abandoned at a convent, to her difficult but eventful teenage years as a helper and then an adopted child in a rich family and her love story with a classmate till adulthood.

Hao Xiao Zi
This story is about a young Japanese boy, who was accidentally taken away from home and led a vagrant life with his father, and his struggles trying to re-integrate into the society and his adventures in school and his favourite sport of Kendo.

There were many more but I cannot remember them now. There’s one about a very good surgeon who was marginalized from the society. As far as I know, the first two, Princess Sapphire and Candy Candy were made into animated series and broadcasted.  I even own a DVD set for the latter.

Those were during the days of my youth.

As I grew older and started working, I stopped reading them till I discovered “Hana Yori Dango” through the Korean drama “Boys Over Flowers” that had adapted its story. Hana Yori Dango is a Japanese manga series about a poor girl and a very rich boy and their struggles to be together.

The Novel “FAITH” by Song Ji Na

Recently, I fell in love with the novel  that was acted out in the South Korean drama “Faith” (or The Great Doctor). I first watched the drama when it was first broadcasted in South Korea from August to October in 2012.

The story is about a plastic surgeon (acted by Kim Hee Sun) who was abducted by a time-travelling warrior (acted by Lee Min Ho) to the Goryeo period 600 years ago in Korea. There they fell in love with each other and then was separated again when she was dragged into the time-wrapped hole by their enemy and went back to 2013 Seoul with him severely wounded and left dying on a field. And by the faith that they had on each other, he survived and she managed to come back him after another year of time-travelling.

Though I like the drama, but I found it somewhat lacking. Some of the scenes and moments in the script were not enacted. It was more satisfying when I read of of the missing portions in the fansites. I found out then that the scriptwriter and author Song Ji Na would be writing a novel for the drama story. I waited for it for a while and then I forgot about it.

Finally, recently, after I stumble upon the drama and re-watched it again. And I searched for the novel again. I found bits and pieces of translations of the novel, which is written in Korean, in English and Chinese. Only Japanese translations of the novel is available. So far, the volume one and two of the novel is out. Apparently, there will be four volumes in total.

The wait for the translations is really arduous. And I stumbled upon online fan-made sequels to the story in the drama. So far, I had read about three of them, all without ending.

Let’s hope that volume three and four will come out soon.

19 Dec 2013

Thoughts on My Childhood

I used to lived at the ground floor of a low-rise 5-storey private apartment block somewhere in the suburban area just outside the city. Surrounding the apartment block in front was a large piece of marshland with natural mud drains.

In the afternoon, after school  work was done, the children living in this apartment block would come out to play on the small private road in front. We would ride bicycles, play badminton, balls, “catching”, “hop-scotch”, and other traditional games besides friendly competitions.

Or we would go to catch “spiders” among the thick bushes and keep them in little match-boxes with some leaves. And then we would let our spiders “fight” with the other spiders from the other kids.

We would also go to the big drains behind the block to catch small fish like guppies and also tadpoles. Then we would keep them in little bottles at home. But we always lead the tadpoles go when they started to grow legs and turned into frogs.

When my father was at home in the day, like during weekends, he would lead the group of neighbourhood kids to venture into the marshland for a little bit of adventure. We would jump across the mud drains where we would pride ourselves in our abilities to do so, especially the wider ones. 

I really enjoyed my childhood.

Visit to Mickiss

At the end of last November, I managed to take out some time to pay a visit to Mickiss while I was in Seoul. As my schedule was really tight, I took a cab there so that I would not get lost or waste time looking for the place.

I was brought right to the doorstep of the SK Hub BLU Building where it is located. This is all thanks to the name card picture that I had downloaded from the web. The cab driver just keyed in the address given and there I was. It was quite easy to find and I went straight up to the 9th floor. It had a open sign hang on the door knob outside.

I rang the door bell and a female sales assistant let me in. Initially she was standing around as I was browsing through the items there and then later she let me browse on my own. I asked if I can take pictures. She replied that I would need to make purchases in order to do so.

The store is just like what you would have seen on the internet Yuchun sites. It’s a small office mostly crammed with Yuchun’s goods. Perhaps as expected, JYJ and hence Yuchun’s stuff are really expensive. The shop sells the Yuchun’s Korean fansite goods like the photobooks and publications from Badboymicky.com. There are samples of the various series of photobooks on the table for browsing. I browsed through each of them though not so thoroughly as I somehow felt a little uncomfortable treating the place like a library. Finally, I picked a key chain, a pink blanket and an old version of his photobook (probably the only item sold at a discounted price). This three items cost 97 000 won.

After the purchase, the sale assistant was quite helpful in taking photographs for me and let me take as many photos as I like. Then I left after visiting the restroom.

The subway station 730 exit 2 is just outside the building. I took the subway back. That concluded my trip to Mickiss.

 

 

Old Movies That Left An Impression

Recently, I came across one of the old movies that I had watched years ago when I was much much younger. It is Blue Lagoon by Christopher Atkins and Brooke Shields. It is a 1980 film about a little boy and girl who grew up together alone in a tropical island when their ship sank and they lost contact with the rest of the world. What they had were some old photos and clothes found in a chest they found as they drifted around in the ocean. They learnt how to look after themselves after the cook who brought them onto the lifeboat and then to the island died. Luckily he had already taught them some basic survivor skills. Later they learnt about puberty and love. and had a baby son. They were so happy there that they did not want leave their island home choosing not to attract the attention of a ship passing near the island. It was the boy’s father, who had been looking for them. I bet the earlier ship was also sent by him. I felt so bad for the father who had been looking for them for so many years. Finally, the young family got stranded and was drifting in the ocean and they they lost hope to live. Their baby had eaten some poison berries and they chose to die together by eating the rest of the berries. The ending was sad but hopeful. The father found them lying unconscious in the boat and the crew man replied the father that they were just sleeping.

 

There is another old movie by another Christopher – Christopher Lambert that had also left an impression on me.  It’s the 1984 movie Greystroke – the Legend of Tazan, Lord of the Apes. In this story, a young couple were marooned in Africa and they had a baby boy. Shortly after they died and the baby was adopted by the apes. Later he saved a man and the man brought him back to his grandfather. He fell in love with Jane and inherited his grandfather’s estate. But one day, a a museum, he found his ape father and he released him and the other captured animals. His ape father died and he was traumatised and decided to go back to his jungle.

 

My Music Through the Years

As I grew up and mature, I noticed changes in my music taste and favourite singers.

When I was growing up, I like to watched Cantonese and Teochew operas. My favourite opera singers were Loong Kim Sang and Tan Chor Hui. Both of them took the male lead roles in the opera.

Sacrifice of a Princess – Loong Kim Sang

四告状1 – Tan Chor Hui

At that time, I listened mainly to Mandarin and Cantonese songs over the Rediffusion, a cabled network like the radio. There were also a few nice English songs that I got to know from school mates.

A Lover’s Concerto 

My favourite Mandarin song singers were Jenny Tseng and Feng Fei Fei as they sang most of the Chinese movie OSTs at that time.

Jenny Tseng singing an old favourite 海誓山盟. 

风飞飞 – 枫叶情 

I also like the songs from Liu Jia Chang, their music teacher in a way.

Liu JIa Chang – 月满西楼  

Alan Tam is my favourite male Cantonese singer.

Alan Tam -愛的根源 

Then I kind of switched over to English songs when I got to listen to Cliff Richard, ABBA and some others. But my favourites were the Bee Gees and John Denver.

Constantly – Cliff Richard 

Fernando – ABBA 

I started a joke and First of May – Bee Gees 

Annie’e Song – John Denver 

Then there was a void period where I don’t listen to much songs.

Until several years ago, I started to get more acquainted with the music of the Beatles and like especially their older songs.

In My Life – The Beatles 

Now, I am into Korean singers. My favourite singer is Park Yuchun and his previous as well as his current group TVXQ and JYJ.

Like Weather – Park Yuchun’s self-composed song 

Begin – TVXQ 

Fallen Leaves – JYJ 

I noticed that as I age, I tend to favour male voices over female voices. I also tend to like lower tone voices than higher pitch voices.

The Lives of Sungkyunkwan Scholars – Volume 1

Recently, I read “The Lives of Sungkyunkwan SAcholars” yet again.

“The Lives of Sungkyunkwan Scholars” is a Korean novel from which the Korean drama” Sungkyunkwan Scandal” was based on. I had read both the Chinese and English translations of the novel available on the internet. They are not complete translations though, with many parts left out. But they are still interesting and addictive to read. As I’m more comfortable with the English translation, I read this version many times.

What I like about reading the text as compared to watching the video is that I can read the thoughts of the protagonists which I can’t by watching the drama. This really helped me to understand the characters better and made me really feel more in tune to their emotions and be brought along as they swing up and down. Moreover, conjuring up the scenes in my mind brings me into another dimension altogether.

Lee Son Joon in the novel is more polite and rational, always the well-mannered scholar, not showing much of his feelings and emotions in front of others. But he is also more passionate and hot-blooded towards his love when the truth was out. In the translated version, he had never been harsh to Yoon Hee or turned her away even when he wanted to stop himself from loving her. He just bore with it all quietly, longing for her at the same time. It’s interesting to read how he had reacted to and was increasingly attracted to the various expressions of feminine vibes given off by Yoon Hee unconsciously. I can really empathise with him as he finds himself tortured by the thoughts of loving another man as a woman.

Kim Yoon Hee in the novel is more humble with less pride. She decided on her own to sit for the tests to get a qualification so that she can earn a more money in doing written work for others. She met Lee Son Joon for the first time when both of them went to the same centre to sit for their first test. As in the drama, she kissed Lee Son Joon first though in a different situation. She kissed him in his sleep when her identity was still not known to him. She was also the one that encouraged Son Joon to ignore the rules of man and follow his desires with her.

There are a few scenes in the novel where the content may not be suitable for younger and innocent readers. There is a  scene where Son Joon was naked when he changes his clothes, another scene where the boys talk about sexual positions, as well as the scene where Son Joon realizes that Yoon Hee is a woman and they gave their bodies to each other.  However, the descriptions are not graphic.

Moon Jaeshin and Gu Yongha are like how they were depicted in the drama. Just that Yongha is a bit more irritating in the novel where he had intentionally/unintentionally ruined many loving and potentially loving moments between the protagonists.

What I am not satisfied with the novel is that it did no’t end with an officially recognized marriage between the two of them. I could not find any translations of the second volume of the novel where they worked for the King. I hope that they will live happily ever after as man and wife accepted by his father and perhaps the King.

Shakespeare – Who Wrote My Literature Texts

I never really like his plays. Mainly because I didn’t understand and appreciate his writing style and old English and I had to study them for exams as a teenager! Well, I hardly understand the story in A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream until recently when I read the synopsis on the Internet. Wish I had the internet then. I would have search for the story line and all the analysis there and study them.

A Midsummer’s Night Dream Movie 1935

The next year, we studied The Merchant of Venice. It’s story is more interesting and I really admired and like Portia at that time.

The Merchant of Venice Movie 2004

Songs from old days

As I was lying in bed last night, the songs that my primary school teacher taught me came to mind.

My music teacher then was also my form teacher. She taught us how to sing and play the recorder. Some of the songs that I can still remember are

1. Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!

2. The Ash Grove

3. My Grandfather’s Clock

4. Greensleeves

5. Yellow Bird

Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!

In the prison cell I sit,
Thinking Mother dear, of you,
And our bright and happy home so far away,
And the tears they fill my eyes
Spite of all that I can do,
Tho’ I try to cheer my comrades and be gay.

Chorus:

Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,
Cheer up comrades they will come.
And beneath the starry flag
We shall breathe the air again,
Of the freeland in our own beloved home.

The Ash Grove

The ash grove how graceful, how plainly ’tis speaking
The harp through its playing has language for me.
Whenever the light through its branches is breaking,
A host of kind faces is gazing on me.
The friends from my childhood again are before me
Each step wakes a memory as freely I roam.
With soft whispers laden the leaves rustle o’er me
The ash grove, the ash grove alone is my home.

Down yonder green valley where streamlets meander
When twilight is fading I pensively rove
Or at the bright noon tide in solitude wander
Amid the dark shades of the lonely ash grove.
‘Twas there while the black bird was cheerfully singing
I first met that dear one the joy of my heart
Around us for gladness the blue bells were ringing
But then little thought I how soon we should part.

My Grandfather’s Clock

My grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf,
So it stood ninety years on the floor;
It was taller by half than the old man himself,
Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born,
And was always his treasure and pride;
But it stopp’d short — never to go again —
When the old man died.

CHORUS:
Ninety years without slumbering
(tick, tock, tick, tock),
His life’s seconds numbering,
(tick, tock, tick, tock),
It stopp’d short — never to go again —
When the old man died.

In watching its pendulum swing to and fro,
Many hours had he spent while a boy;
And in childhood and manhood the clock seemed to know
And to share both his grief and his joy.
For it struck twenty-four when he entered at the door,
With a blooming and beautiful bride;
But it stopped short — never to go again —
When the old man died.
CHORUS

My grandfather said that of those he could hire,
Not a servant so faithful he found;
For it wasted no time, and had but one desire —
At the close of each week to be wound.
And it kept in its place — not a frown upon its face,
And its hands never hung by its side.
But it stopp’d short — never to go again —
When the old man died.
CHORUS
It rang an alarm in the dead of the night —
An alarm that for years had been dumb;
And we knew that his spirit was pluming for flight —
That his hour of departure had come.
Still the clock kept the time, with a soft and muffled chime,
As we silently stood by his side;
But it stopp’d short — never to go again —
When the old man died.
CHORUS 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fr0KoJmusI

Greensleeves

Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
To cast me off discourteously.
For I have loved you well and long,
Delighting in your company.

Chorus:
Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady greensleeves.

Yellow Bird

Yellow bird, up high in banana tree.
Yellow bird, you sit all alone like me.

Did your lady friend leave the nest again?
That is very sad, makes me feel so bad.
You can fly away, in the sky away.
You’re more lucky than me.

I also had a pretty girl, she’s not with me today.
They’re all the same those pretty girls.
Take tenderness, then they fly away.
Yellow bird, yellow bird.

Did your lady friend leave the nest again?
That is very sad, makes me feel so bad.
You can fly away, in the sky away.
You’re more lucky than me.

Wish that I were a yellow bird, I’d fly away with you.
But I am not a yellow bird, so here I sit
Nothing I can do.
Yellow bird, yellow bird.