Summer roundup :)
long time no write, guys! sorry I've been MIA, or maybe no one has missed me. lol. either way, I've had a very exciting summer, though I can't say the same about Kpop lol.
So I actually spent 6 weeks in Seoul this summer, as part of a program at my university. Basically, we take a class - our own professors, our own curriculum, our own students - just bring it abroad :) So we stayed at Ewha Women's University graduate student dorms - they were the bomb diggity, let me tell you. beautiful campus, lovely dorm rooms, and fantastic location - Edae and Sinchon are both chock full of great restaurants, noraebang places, bars, and shopping ♥ very close by subway to Dongdaemun and Myeongdong, which as far as I'm concerned are the most important places in Korea LOL. also close to Itaewon, Cheonggyecheon, and Samcheongdong
I absolutely adore Korea and really hope I have a chance to return in the future. I'd say that overall there is only one thing that sets it significantly apart from China - besides language and general culture. And that would be the omnipresence of cosmetics shops. lol. everything else that I love about Korea is vaguely comparable to China - it's usually cheaper in China, actually (the food, the clothing shopping...), but seeing Etude, Nature Republic, Holika, Face Shop, etc. absolutely everywhere...oh man, it's the shiz. I love it. and I miss it :( cheap, good quality, adorable packaging, face stuff that is appropriately yellow toned, and stores with testers and salespeople? sign me up please!
I went with my class to see the World Cup game - Korea's last one, the one they lost to Uruguay - at City Hall and omfg it was craaaaaazy. literally, just a sea of red. it rained but we didn't care. SO MUCH FUN. so crowded and so insane. its too bad we didn't win, but it honestly would have been mass chaos if we did, I would have feared for my life!
As for my Kpop experience...so good! I loved going around and hearing songs I recognized - Bonamana, Turn it Up, etc. got pretty heavy playtime near the beginning of my stay. Magic by Secret, Push Push, CN Blue, stuff like that. I bought a good deal of Kpop paraphernalia lol, including a discounted Jaejoong calendar (it was for 09-10), a 12-pack poster of Hyunjoong (the cover photo was so beautiful I just had to get it), and like ten CD's lol.
ALSO I got to attend a recording of M!Countdown!!!! omg so exciting!!! it wasn't the most thrilling week (lol it was their 199th episode -_- which meant that the week RIGHT AFTER I went was super great including MBLAQ doing that epic medley), but I can't complain - as I got to ogle Joon for two hours lol. let me tell you he is just as beautiful in person as I could have guessed from photos. the only other standout in my mind from that recording was 4Minute. they are hella hot in person. I didn't realize how tall Jiyoon is, when 4Minute was waiting by the side to start to perform, I thought it was some hot female idol who I didn't recognize with her backup dancers lol
And of course I have fallen in love with Korean food. and Korean bars are super fun (not that I ever got drunk, I always went with friends and had like a shot or two of fruit soju, which is like 1% alcohol and super sweetened lol). and noraebang is, well, it was fun but chinese ktv is even better lol. we did, however, find an amazing place in Sinchon that gave, essentially, unlimited free time. we once stayed until 5AM and only called it quits because, well, it was 5AM. I'm sure we would have gotten more time after that lol
As for the actual Kpop music scene...eh. this year has been so damn slow lol. I adore Lucifer - song and performances, concept esp hair needs to DIE. Turn It Up is a fun song and I love the video - too skanky but otherwise so well done, and TOP is a hottie. Other songs that I heard a lot/defined my trip this summer: Nu Abo, Y, I My Me Mine, Huh, Nothin on You, I'll back off so you can live better, Return (Koyote), I Need a Girl, Push Push, Good Girl Bad Girl. I think that's it for now.
I haven't been following a lot of the newer groups like Secret, even though I can tell they are doing well so I should listen to Madonna haha. I love Miss A, I think they are the greatest thing to debut in Kpop in a while. better than overhyped 2NE1, imo. they are, straightup, pure raw talent (except for maybe Suzy lol) without trying as hard as 2NE1. I also think G.NA has a LOT of potential - she's hot, she sings well, and her songs are pretty good so far. But really 2010 has been too boring. Even the big names - Se7en, BoA, I'm looking at you! - have been such disappointments. I want Big Bang singing Kpop again, dammit! I don't really like their Jpop stuff (beautiful hangover? wtf?) And let's not even talk about my intense longing for DBSK D: I'm not toooo excited for 2NE1 though I have no doubt that what they'll put out will be catchy and fun. I just find them way way overhyped and overrated. they are not "different" or "fresh," they are just another girl group trying to be catchy and popular. they also sell sex, they also have filler untalented cute members in there. big whoop
Three of the students in my class were Singaporian, and under their influence I have been listening to a lot of Cpop post-Korea. how ironic. and I have since then confirmed what I have long known, that JJ Lin is definitely my favorite Chinese artist. I have come to appreciate Jay Chou more too - I still think he's sucky as an artist (that whininess. that enunciation! or lack thereof. that scream when he has to reach for high notes), but I like a lot more of his songs than I did before. I have a lot more respect for him as a composer now. I kind of regard him as I do GD: brilliant musician, mediocre artist. So yeah, I've been on a Cpop kick, especially since Kpop has been kinda boring to me.
After Korea I went to Shanghai for two weeks, which was also loads of fun, and now I'm just chillin back home, working in a lab until school starts up again. How have everyone else's summers been? :)
(Post with pictures coming in the near future!!)
So I actually spent 6 weeks in Seoul this summer, as part of a program at my university. Basically, we take a class - our own professors, our own curriculum, our own students - just bring it abroad :) So we stayed at Ewha Women's University graduate student dorms - they were the bomb diggity, let me tell you. beautiful campus, lovely dorm rooms, and fantastic location - Edae and Sinchon are both chock full of great restaurants, noraebang places, bars, and shopping ♥ very close by subway to Dongdaemun and Myeongdong, which as far as I'm concerned are the most important places in Korea LOL. also close to Itaewon, Cheonggyecheon, and Samcheongdong
I absolutely adore Korea and really hope I have a chance to return in the future. I'd say that overall there is only one thing that sets it significantly apart from China - besides language and general culture. And that would be the omnipresence of cosmetics shops. lol. everything else that I love about Korea is vaguely comparable to China - it's usually cheaper in China, actually (the food, the clothing shopping...), but seeing Etude, Nature Republic, Holika, Face Shop, etc. absolutely everywhere...oh man, it's the shiz. I love it. and I miss it :( cheap, good quality, adorable packaging, face stuff that is appropriately yellow toned, and stores with testers and salespeople? sign me up please!
I went with my class to see the World Cup game - Korea's last one, the one they lost to Uruguay - at City Hall and omfg it was craaaaaazy. literally, just a sea of red. it rained but we didn't care. SO MUCH FUN. so crowded and so insane. its too bad we didn't win, but it honestly would have been mass chaos if we did, I would have feared for my life!
As for my Kpop experience...so good! I loved going around and hearing songs I recognized - Bonamana, Turn it Up, etc. got pretty heavy playtime near the beginning of my stay. Magic by Secret, Push Push, CN Blue, stuff like that. I bought a good deal of Kpop paraphernalia lol, including a discounted Jaejoong calendar (it was for 09-10), a 12-pack poster of Hyunjoong (the cover photo was so beautiful I just had to get it), and like ten CD's lol.
ALSO I got to attend a recording of M!Countdown!!!! omg so exciting!!! it wasn't the most thrilling week (lol it was their 199th episode -_- which meant that the week RIGHT AFTER I went was super great including MBLAQ doing that epic medley), but I can't complain - as I got to ogle Joon for two hours lol. let me tell you he is just as beautiful in person as I could have guessed from photos. the only other standout in my mind from that recording was 4Minute. they are hella hot in person. I didn't realize how tall Jiyoon is, when 4Minute was waiting by the side to start to perform, I thought it was some hot female idol who I didn't recognize with her backup dancers lol
And of course I have fallen in love with Korean food. and Korean bars are super fun (not that I ever got drunk, I always went with friends and had like a shot or two of fruit soju, which is like 1% alcohol and super sweetened lol). and noraebang is, well, it was fun but chinese ktv is even better lol. we did, however, find an amazing place in Sinchon that gave, essentially, unlimited free time. we once stayed until 5AM and only called it quits because, well, it was 5AM. I'm sure we would have gotten more time after that lol
As for the actual Kpop music scene...eh. this year has been so damn slow lol. I adore Lucifer - song and performances, concept esp hair needs to DIE. Turn It Up is a fun song and I love the video - too skanky but otherwise so well done, and TOP is a hottie. Other songs that I heard a lot/defined my trip this summer: Nu Abo, Y, I My Me Mine, Huh, Nothin on You, I'll back off so you can live better, Return (Koyote), I Need a Girl, Push Push, Good Girl Bad Girl. I think that's it for now.
I haven't been following a lot of the newer groups like Secret, even though I can tell they are doing well so I should listen to Madonna haha. I love Miss A, I think they are the greatest thing to debut in Kpop in a while. better than overhyped 2NE1, imo. they are, straightup, pure raw talent (except for maybe Suzy lol) without trying as hard as 2NE1. I also think G.NA has a LOT of potential - she's hot, she sings well, and her songs are pretty good so far. But really 2010 has been too boring. Even the big names - Se7en, BoA, I'm looking at you! - have been such disappointments. I want Big Bang singing Kpop again, dammit! I don't really like their Jpop stuff (beautiful hangover? wtf?) And let's not even talk about my intense longing for DBSK D: I'm not toooo excited for 2NE1 though I have no doubt that what they'll put out will be catchy and fun. I just find them way way overhyped and overrated. they are not "different" or "fresh," they are just another girl group trying to be catchy and popular. they also sell sex, they also have filler untalented cute members in there. big whoop
Three of the students in my class were Singaporian, and under their influence I have been listening to a lot of Cpop post-Korea. how ironic. and I have since then confirmed what I have long known, that JJ Lin is definitely my favorite Chinese artist. I have come to appreciate Jay Chou more too - I still think he's sucky as an artist (that whininess. that enunciation! or lack thereof. that scream when he has to reach for high notes), but I like a lot more of his songs than I did before. I have a lot more respect for him as a composer now. I kind of regard him as I do GD: brilliant musician, mediocre artist. So yeah, I've been on a Cpop kick, especially since Kpop has been kinda boring to me.
After Korea I went to Shanghai for two weeks, which was also loads of fun, and now I'm just chillin back home, working in a lab until school starts up again. How have everyone else's summers been? :)
(Post with pictures coming in the near future!!)