• 이젠 아니야

    June 9, 2014

    BEAST new MV was released by Cube Entertainment around 3 hours ago. If you haven’t heard, play the MV below NOW! The lyrics is so heart wrenching sobs… … I hope it touches you too!

    The MV male lead is none other than Yong Junhyung. The female lead is an actress, Lee Yubi.

    BEAST 비스트 – No More 이젠 아니야

    [DJ] Why are you still
    Unable to forget me like a fool
    Like that
    Why am I still
    A good person to you
    A good person
    It’s already been
    A few months since we broke up
    Why are you still
    Living in the past memories

    [KK] There are lots of good people around you
    It’s okay to start a new love
    I sincerely hope
    You will smile and be happy

    [HS] I can see that you’re struggling
    I can’t start a new love
    Oh yeah
    Again at this late time

    [DW] Why did you come find me again
    I’m the pathetic one who sent you away
    The sad cries I hear
    Beyond the door

    [YS] Why did you come find me again
    To me who has already become cold
    I don’t have anymore heat That I can share with you

    [DW] No more no more
    The person whom you can lean on

    [JH] Alright cry all you want
    If you can wash me away with that
    If you can erase the lingering feelings in your heart
    I’m not someone
    Who is worth being hurt over
    I’m not someone who is with you
    Like before
    I don’t want to lie
    Saying that I’m sending you off because I love you
    I’ll be with you just for today
    Hurry up and get up
    I can extend my hand to you
    But that is only until today

    [KK] You know I can’t go back
    You can be happy beside me
    Go find someone
    Who will make you smile

    [HS] I can see you struggling
    I can’t feel comfortable for a day
    Oh yeah
    Again at this late time

    [DW] Why did you come find me again
    I’m the pathetic one who sent you away
    The sad cries I hear
    Beyond the door

    [YS] Why did you come find me again
    To me who has already become cold
    I don’t have anymore heat
    That I can share with you

    [KK] Can you stop now
    As time goes by
    I’m so scared
    That you will get hurt
    From my cold exterior

    [HS] You just need to live on well so that I can see
    I’m no longer
    Someone you can lean on

    [DW] Why did you come find me again
    I’m the pathetic one who sent you away
    The sad cries I hear
    Beyond the door

    [YS] Why did you come find me again
    To me who has already become cold
    I don’t have anymore heat
    That I can share with you

    [DW] No more no more
    The person whom you can lean on

    Lyrics Translations Credit: @B2STIZEN

    While my friend and I were watching the MV, we couldn’t help noticing how pretty the shops in the MV appear. Hence I started my hunt online for the shops. Fortunately the shops are quite accessible in Seoul!

    First off, the first scene that appeared in the MV is a store named 1984.


    Yes, this is also the place where Junhyung and Yubi took their selca. This is not only a cafe, but also a museum, book store and editing store, featuring Art, Music, Fashion, Life.

    The interior of this store looks awesome and too good to miss. (Pictures Source: In Sunho)

    1984
    1F, 158-24, Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea 121-898
    Tel: +82 2-325-1984
    Opening Hrs: 12pm – 12am

    Junhyung was later checking his phone outside this store called Brown Breath, located in Hongdae. A quick search online indicates that they carry their own brands, as well as outside brands such as Happy Socks, Generic Surplus, and Cheap Monday.

    Brown Breath
    3F, 343-19 Seokyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea
    Opening Hrs: 10am – 7pm (Closed during lunch time: 12pm – 1pm)

    This time, Junhyung stopped in front of Cafe N Then with a bunch of flowers in his hand. Out came the flashback of how Yubi used to wait for him outside this cafe. This place is nearer to Hapjeong Subway Station.

    Some pictures of the cafe found on Foursquare:



    Cafe N Then
    Yanghwa-Ro 6-gil 21, Seogyo-dong Mapo-gu, Seoul
    Tel: +82 2-325-1718
    Opening Hrs: 11:00am – 12:00am

    Finally Junhyung and Yubi met behind the restaurant Slunch Factory. This is a vegetarian-friendly restaurant.

    This is how the shop front looks like: (Photos Source)

    The restaurant interior looks artsy fartsy too, like a warm and cozy cafe.

    I’d say the price is quite reasonable too.
    Slunch Factory
    Address: 336-18 Sangsu-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul
    Tel: 02 6367 9870
    Opening Hrs: 12pm – 12am

    Directions
    Sangsu Subway Station, Line 6, Exit 4.
    After exiting, turn around and walk slightly uphill. Follow the sidewalk as it curves to the right (don’t turn into the small alleys before that). Walk straight, passing Yiri cafe on the left. Slunch Factory will be further down, on the right. It is around 5-7 minutes walk from the subway station.

    Another place that appeared in the MV is called Roh Rang Party and Gallery, which also happens to be a flower cafe. Though they called themselves a cafe, don’t expect a coffee menu to be given to you when you enter the store. Other than selling flowers, they apparently also teach flower arrangements.
    Roh Rang Party and Gallery
    Tel: +82 70 7788 7555
    Opening Hrs: 10am – 8pm (Closed on Sundays)
    Address: 1F, 394-25 Dongyang Hangang Trevel, Seokyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul
    (Hapjeong Subway Station Exit 5)

    I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, all the places are in Mapo-gu. I guess you can make a day trip to visit all the places mentioned above! I definitely want to visit all these places that appeared in the MV!!!

    In the meantime, keep looping this awesome song on Youtube!

    read more

  • Cosmos People Descended Upon Singapore

    September 4, 2013

    I went Switch for the first time in July to catch a live performance by Cosmos People, a band from Taiwan. To my surprise, Switch is quite a big venue. It gives me the vibe of Timbre. No wonder everyone whom I spoke to, told me it is the Chinese version of Timbre. Timbre basically plays English songs, and Switch plays Mandarin songs on top of English songs.

    Anyway we were sitting very near the stage, first table in fact. So we had a very good view of the performers! Yay! The ambience in Switch is quite good, given the dim lighting. Warm, cozy fuzzy feeling.

    I didn’t take a lot of pictures because most important part is to enjoy the performance with our eyes, ears and heart. Switch doesn’t limit taking of pictures though. So bring on your DSLR if you like!!!

    The last time I saw them live was back in year 2010 when I took a 3D2N trip to Kaohsiung just to watch them and Wonfu performed. Those were the days~~~~

    The band that changed in members, leaving only 2 familiar faces I know of.




    I quite like the above picture though my favourite member of this group is blocked here. The vocalist looking like he owned the world.

    We got autographs, handshakes and photos with the band. Awesome!

    To top it off, we happened to have supper nearby the concert venue and the band joined us shortly after. I had to work the next day so I left around midnight on cab. It was cool enough to be having supper with the band. Totally rocks the night!

    read more

  • Kuala Lumpur Mayday Concert “No-Where”

    June 6, 2013

    This is another outdated post. (Coughs) I went Malaysia Kuala Lumpur in March with some friends to catch Mayday’s concert “No-Where”. Despite the close proximity my house is to the causeway linking to Malaysia, I don’t travel there often. I kinda miss the days I used to travel to Johor Bahru just for cheap and good massage. Needless to say Kuala Lumpur, where it’s further deep in Malaysia. Since it’s been some time since I last visit Kuala Lumpur, naturally I was looking forward to the trip.


    The check in counter staff was weird. My friend and I checked in together and the staff even asked whether either of us wanted aisle seat. My friend wanted aisle seat and I had no preference. When I got the tickets, I got a surprise. My friend did get an aisle seat, and me a middle seat. But we were seated on different sides of the air craft. It’s not like the counter staff was trying to give us an entire row to ourselves. I had different people sitting on my left and right side on board the air craft.  Thankfully a guy was kind enough to exchange seats with us, so we get to sit together.

    The most important item to bring on the trip: entrance ticket! The first thing I boarded the flight was to ask whether my friend brought the tickets. Not that there’s anything I could do by the time we were on the flight to realize tickets were not with us. LOL~


    It was my friend’s birthday! We arrived at the hotel to sing happy birthday song and ate cake. Such a coincidence to be having birthday on the day of concert. Heh~

    The rest of us on the trip. On board a cab towards venue for lunch!




    Somehow we managed to stand second row in the mosh pit. It was so upclose and personal. So many times the members came over to smile at us, recognizing we were from Singapore. The last two photos in the concert venue was taken using my mobile phone. I didn’t bring my camera in and I could even capture Monster looking at my me. (Melts)


    Next day was Old Town White Coffee prawn mee and coffee for our first meal. I am missing the taste of this prawn mee already! It tastes way better than what I have in Singapore!

    Then it was my favorite Krispy Kreme before we head to the airport for home. Late last year there was news of Krispy Kreme coming to Singapore but why is it not here yet? Where art thou Krispy Kreme~~~~~

    Soon it is Singapore’s turn for Mayday World Tour of “No-Where”. I’ve bought my tickets. How about you?

    read more

  • Hey Kurumi

    March 12, 2013

    I recently completed a Korean drama called 이웃집 꽃미남 (The Flower Boy Next Door). I am so so attracted to this lead actor 윤시윤 (Yoon Shi Yoon). I simply love his single eyelids and boyish smile. He also recently appeared in the Gag Concert. KBS Entertainment doesn’t allow embed sharing of video, so please watch it on Youtube. He is sooooooo cute in there! No matter how you read his name forward or backward, it is still 윤시윤 (Yoon Shi Yoon)! XD

    This is not exactly what I wanna talk about. (Clears Throat) There is another character in the drama who is a webtoon artist. I was doing a search online and realised that in Korea, webtoon is actually very popular and there are massive readers. There is a daily schedule for when these webtoon is updated. If anyone is interested in the webtoon, there is link here.

    I was reading a very short webtoon series that only has 8 chapters the other day, called 꿈의 카페 Young 다방. I came across this conversation.


    This is briefly translated to: Do not give up hope. There is no reason to cry because you cannot solve your problem right now. Even if it is hard and you feel like giving up, as long as you still have hope, it is not over. Pull at it little by little, once you have constantly pulled at it, there will be something within you smiling at you.

    Isn’t that very motivational? Sometimes we get so lost and restless, but there’s always someone reminding us not to give up hope. I wasn’t expecting to get this encouragement through a webtoon. Reading this already gives me smiles.

    Speaking of dreams, I do have some friends who went through so much to pursue their dreams. They had to face families and friends who didn’t support them initially, they took to the streets to share their dreams. I’m talking about a popular group called Katncandix2 here, and I’m very glad their hard work paid off. They were nominated best group in very well known music award ceremonies such as Golden Melody Awards. Some time last year, they visited Singapore to perform again.



    I don’t know why my face look so big beside them. Grrrrr~

    Sharing another song I love putting on repeat mode, Kurumi by Mr. Children. Hope everyone of you don’t lose hope and continue pursuing your dreams with every effort!

    read more

  • Taiwan Indie Pop

    October 20, 2012

    Right before I opened myself up to KPOP, I was very much into Taiwan Indie Pop. Not that I’m not into them anymore, the number of artists I’m looking out for has decreased over time. Some of the artists I still pin very high hopes on their music are 1976, Katncandix2, Mayday.

    I used to be so head over heels with Wonfu and Cosmos People too. I even flew all the way to Kaohsiung for a 3D2N trip just to attend one of their concerts. Technically it was less than 3D2N if you add in the travelling time, 4 hours flight from SG to TPE and 2 hours on train from Taoyuan Airport to Kaohsiung.

    My group photo with Wonfu, Cosmos People and Taiwan friends.

    Over these years, these two groups have somehow evolved. Wonfu came up with album catering to children age group. Though I still bought their album and got autographs for them, I can’t really say I love their music as much anymore. For one, I don’t put their latest album on repeat mode now.

    Cosmos People on the other hand had, half of their members (2 out of 4) went to army. Not that I couldn’t survive the short army wait, the band themselves couldn’t survive the army years. The band returned with only 2 remaining members out of the original 4.

    I still recalled I had my first album signed and written with my name by Chen Wei Da, the bassist when they came Singapore to perform. He was my favorite member then. After which, he bid farewell to the band saying he wanted to focus on studies. Like I’d believe that. I did get a copy of note later, which he wrote to my Taiwan friends on his explanation. I can’t share the contents of the lengthy note though.

    I moved on and accepted the band for what it is. The 1.5 album, as they called it, was signed by my second favorite member, drummer Wei Hong Bo. After releasing this 1.5 albums, 2 of the members went into army. And when they finally returned, the drummer too bid farewell. This time it gets even more absurd because no reason was given. He’s now acting in drama catered for children, by the way.

    The Cosmos People is now made up of 3 members, of which I can’t remember the third member’s name. They got their 2nd album out and I haven’t placed order for them yet. I always joked that if I get another member to sign on my 2nd album, I’m afraid he’d leave the band too.

    Anyway my friend went Taiwan for a trip earlier this year. She brought me gifts from my Taiwan friends whom I haven’t seen in two years.

    A Kaohsiung magazine with many pages featuring Mayday.

    The front cover of the magazine in case you wonder. Edition 9 of Kaohsiung Pictorial. I’m not sure if it’s still available on the shelves. Probably not?

    Gogo Rock fan and postcard, a card from Katncandix2 concert in TICC. A very memorable concert as it marks their milestone. I’m still feeling sore from not being able to see my friends perform in TICC.

    Wonfu concert stickers. I do have a lot of them in stock actually. ㅋㅋㅋ

    Cosmos People stickers. This is very hard to collect because the band only scatters them to the crowds during concerts and autograph sessions. It is so hard to get a full set!

    I hereby conclude, I love my Taiwan friends so much! It’s been so so so long since I visited Taiwan. I need to save money and make a trip soon… … …

    read more