kdrama overload 4: my girl

cast:

lee da hae - joo yoo rin

lee dong wook - seol gong chan

lee jun ki - seo jung woo

park shi yeon - kim sae hyun

When Gong-chan (Lee Dong-wook) meets the lively and beautiful Yu-rin (Lee Da-hae), he finds out that she has connections to his missing cousin, who his grandfather has been searching for a long time. He asks Yu-rin to lie about being his long missing cousin until he can find his real cousin. She says yes, but soon their feelings for each other get in the way of their plans. Gong-chan's friend Jung-woo (Lee Joon Ki) falls for Yu-rin while Gong-chan's ex girlfriend, Seo-hyun (Park Si Yeon), who is a pro tennis player, tries to win him back. Will the two ever tell each other how they feel? Will Gong-chan ever find his real sister?

the premise of the story is interesting - hiring a 'talented' girl to play as the long-lost cousin/granddaughter of a rich family to grant the 'dying' wishes of the grandfather. what's more twisted is that 1) the grandfather is not dying anymore coz he regained strength and will to live upon seeing his grandchild 2) the 'cousin' falling in love with her cousin 3) the cousin's friend falling for the 'cousin' and 4) the ex wanting the cousin back. the cool facade of gong chan makes it hard to read him. it's given that he'll fall for yoo rin but when??? yoo rin is aight.. but most of the time, she annoys me. she's too jolly.. then she would be emo one time.. hard to get the next.. i dont get it. she would say that they should remain as "cousins" but her actions give her away.. well, is it really a girl thing? i commend the character of lee jun ki. such a martyr eh! he's there to absorb whatever pain his love for yoo ri brings. awwww, he's too pretty to be sad.

kdrama overload 3: coffee prince

cast: other princes:

gong yoo - choi han kyul kim chang wan - mr hong

yoon eun hye - go eun chan kim jae wook - no sun ki

lee sun gyun - choi han sung kim dong wook - jin ha rim

chae jung ahn - han yoo joo lee un - hwang min yeop

1st shop of coffee prince, to be exact, revolves around the life of go eun chan (yoon run hye). she works many jobs to pay off debts and even gave up her feminine image. choi han kyul (gong yoo) is the heir of a big food company, but his grandmother wants him to settle down, so she arranged many dates for him. after eun chan bumped into han kyul and was mistaken for a boy, han kyul decided to hire eun chan to be his gay lover in order to avoid the arranged dates. desperately in need of money, eun chan had no choice but to accept. han kyul's grandmother also made han kyul in charge of a filthy coffee shop in danger of being bankrupt. eun chan begged to work at the coffee shop, and not long after, feelings start to spark, except, how would han kyul accept his "homosexuality"?

yoon eun hye can really pass as a guy. pretty boy, even. her ways are manly, able to lift heavy things and eat like a man. hahaha eun-chan and han-kyul's interaction in many scenes are adorable. they're like brothers teasing each other. who would think that this will lead to their attraction to each other? enough to make han-kyul doubt his sexuality - even consulting a psychiatrist? hahaha reminds me of a similar premise in hana kimi (jdrama). however, it just shows that when love strikes, you just can't stop it. regardless of gender, it will just leave you vulnerable. and when you think the world is against you, you fight coz for what it's worth, you know you took the risk, not wondering what might have been. next to boys over flowers, i enjoyed this series. it shows love in a 'complicated' form... yes, still with its emo moments but still light and funny sequences. the individual stories of the princes also united the story, making it not too self-absorbed.

kdrama overload 2: autumn in my heart

cast:

song seung hun - yun joon-suh

song hye kyo - yun/choi eun-suh

won bin - han tae-suhk

ha na na - shin yu mi

han chae young - choi/yun shin ae

choi woo hyuk - teen joon-suh

moon geun young - teen eun-suh

lee ae jung - teen shin-ae

Yoon Joon-suh (Song Seung Heon) and Yoon Eun-suh (Song Hye Gyo) are siblings. Eun-suh is in fact from a different family as she was accidentally exchanged with another baby, but no one knows about this fact until one day, when Eun-suh has an accident, her blood is tested only to discover that her blood type is completely different from her brother's. After this discovery, their parents move to the US, and leave Eun-suh behind with her biological mother. Ten years later, Joon-suh returns to Korea and he begins to search for Eun-suh. Their reunion after being apart for ten years raise their childhood memories and soon they fall in love. However, their pure love will not be so easy because Joon-suh already has a fiancee who loves him very much. And Eun-suh has a partner, Han Tae-suk (Won Bin) who has loved her for his whole life.

this is a melodrama who touched the hearts of many. what left a big impact on me is that of the unconditional, unfailing love of a mother to a daughter she thought was her own, that of a man's unrequited love and letting go of someone who taught him how to love, that of a love so great(ly insane) enough to 'welcome' death.. sounds familiar?? romeo and juliet, the korean way. hehe i loved the first 3 episodes where the story of the young characters were shown. the acting was really good, very effective that it reaches out to you. special mention to moon geun young (young eun-suh) man, those tears can just flow out naturally! her portrayal of a loving daughter and sister is passionate yet not overboard; humble yet strong. overall, the plot shies away from the typical rom-com but i just can't stand that song hye-kyo's character had to cry or shed a tear, at least, in most of the scenes. still, a pretty face, nonetheless.

recurring scene

the mom doesn't want to cry or when she does, she quickly wipes them away, saying that she can't see clearly when there are tears in her eyes. tama nga naman.

kdrama overload 1: full house

cast:
song hye-kyo - han ji-eun

rain - lee yeong-jae

han eun-jong - kim hye-won
kim sung-soo - yoo min-hyeok

full house tells the story of a married couple (ji-eun and yeong-jae) who were forced to marry each other due to certain circumstances. theirs is a contract marriage. they each have their own affairs but somehow, they found their way to be their own affair. their like-hate bickerings lead them to realize how much they cared for one another, enough to set each other free.

i looove the girl, song hye-kyo. really pretty, especially with bangs. her character sometimes just annoy me for being too emo, leaving the house when she thinks she's had enough. then going back home again after she's simmered down. with rain, uhm, just ok. i didnt like his outfits the first few episodes. yeah, he's got THE body. but wearing a green, v-neck hanging sweater?!?! NOT. i can't erase the thought of him singing "three bears". a korean nursery rhyme, i think. i quiver just imagining it. NOT cute, for me. i like the outfits han eun-jong wore on the series. cool. she's supposedly the biatch here, but not enough to hate her wits. it's still realistic. i looove kim sung-soo. he's cute. just too bad the girl here has her eyes set on another.. sana akin ka na lang. haha

ost, in my ipod

i think i love you

geu deh ji geum

jdrama: zettai kareshi

zettai kareshi (absolute boyfriend) is a jdrama recommended by my friend and is also on top of the list in mysoju.com. it's about a robot lover who came into riiko's life. this created a triangle with riiko's boss, soshi. can a machine really give your heart's desires? here's a song from the series. "okaeri" is the song by ayaka, who coincidentally is now the wife of soshi. awwww

okaeri, for me is a song that basically tells us that home is where your heart is. it's always nice to feel at home, right? to know that you belong and you are loved.

i can't wait to be home.

Boys over flowers: scenes, semi-spoilers

i will soon finish watching boys over flowers (again).  i could go on and on raving about the series:

new caledonia - where they went on a vacation and junpyo professed his love for jandi on board a helicopter overlooking a heart-shaped grassfield... awww he looked like a lovesick puppy happily expecting recognition from his loved one. 

macau - jandi followed junpyo in macau after not hearing from him for months.  she found him but things didn't go well for them.  jandi still braved the wall junpyo put up for himself to fence out his friends.  still, jihoo made ways for them to patch things, even warning junpyo that he won't stand back anymore if he continues to ignore jandi.  

i admired how jihoo stood by jandi.  though it pains knowing that the girl he likes.. likes his bestfriend, it didn't hinder him from caring for jandi.  all the more, he wanted to protect her and be there whenever he needs her.  it's the classic case of unrequited love.  things could've been simple if only jandi can teach her heart to love.  oh, my.. such complications! enough with it. 

loathe her!

i simply hate the girl junpyo met in the hospital.  so much that i didnt bother getting her name. hehehe she's more evil than his wicked mother! hahaha she's like the devil in disguise - pretending to be jandi's friend, when what she wanted was junpyo... for herself.  what a sly one. 

worse than being hated

... being forgotten.. - amnesia.

did you notice that junpyo looks sooo like dao ming si.  but of course, i like junpyo better... 

more on boys over flowers

oh.my. it's junpyo's birthday TODAY! hahaha he's 22 yo. even younger than my brother. kids nowadays are just mature physically.. for their age. hahaha HAPPY BIRTHDAY! i would've liked to greet him in facebook.. but i opted not to. i feel SOOO old already. well, i am. a little. ohh, we're under the same zodiac sign.. i think. i hope to see him in other series or movies. perhaps BOF 2? i know my fwends are having "nosebleed" already due to my never ending rave for BOF and junpyo, so i just indulge here.. in my very own space in WWW.

• woo bin - mafia prince hehehe i like the way he tries to be 'cool'. 
  
• yi jung - looove his instrumental version of "Do you know" when he tries to be the knight in shining armor of ga eul (jan di's friend). though he pretends to be a chickboy, you can tell that there's more to him. 
  
• ji hoo - the quiet, passive F4 member. he has his own mataray ways but once you get close to him, i like it when his expression turn from serious to smiley face. ohh, he looks better in black hair. he can sing and dance too with his boy group.
  
• jun pyo - bad-tempered yet loving leader of the group. i simply adore his ways of showing love for jan di. it may be grand for an ordinary person.. (i wouldn't mind GRAND, extravagant hahaha) but jan di's character is uncomfortable with that kind of treatment. 
  
• jan di - "lucky girl" hahaha in spite of her physical, financial hardships, she is fortunate to have friends and family who love and support her. she is loved by by many and that alone is a treasure that you can't compare with.
• finally, i understood and it's clear that ji hoo has romantic feelings for jan di. in the previous versions, the sentiments of hua ze lei and hanazawa rui were still vague. i cant fully comprehend if it's plain sympathy, or just friendship like that of best friends. in BOF, however, you can tell that ji hoo harbored romance with jan di mwehehehe

this manga already has 3 versions.. i wonder if HK will be next.. or pinas? hmm... hahaha

boys over flowers: soundtrack faves

BOF

thanks to WWW i can watch and listen to my fave BOF tracks hehehe

boys over flowers OST: yearning of the heart

one of the songs i like in the series is ashwiun maeumingeol (yearning heart). is it Kpop?  

gaga over korean drama: boys over flowers

i got soooo hooked with the korean drama, boys over flowers.  it all started with being a bum on weekends.  hahaha i was looking for something to watch and opted to try the tagalog-dubbed boys over flowers, which is actually the korean version of meteor garden (taiwan) and hana yori dango (japan).  i loved the first two, and so i got curious with how this latest one will fair in my ratings board. haha  surprisingly to me.. it weighed even more! i watched the first few episodes in youtube and got bitin.  i didnt bother to wait coz i was too eager to continue.  i searched and found full episodes for streaming (with english subs) in mysoju and in youtube... yehey!  i watched and watched until i lost track of time... and there goes my weekend.... lazily cooped up in my room.  hahaha

so far, i think this is the cutest set of F4 among the 3 versions.  (or was i just biased over jun pyo?)  anyways, im still all agog over this series so i dont think i can be objective over the other 2.  all i know is that... i loooove jun pyo.  love it when he smiles, he gets mad, he does things for his lady love... crazy.. but i love. *lolz*

hana yori dango final

i looooove hana yori dango series. i completed all the season episodes. not surprisingly i had to watch the movie... the story goes with the domyoji tsukasa manning their great empire and announcing to the world his engagement to makino tsukushi. poor makino and family - now the center of the news all over japan - had to adapt to the lavish lifestyle of the domyojis. as pre-wedding gift, makino was given a bejeweled tiara, a prized possession of the domyoji clan. unknowingly, the couple didnt know that this tiara is the way to test their love for each other. traveling to the US in las vegas, to hongkong, to a southern island, the young lovers journeyed together to find the stolen jewel only to discover the real treasure they are looking for is right before them. simple, right. but sometimes, blessings are just too close for the eyes to see, too easy to get to value it's worth. in the end, they realized how much more they love each other because of the ordeals they dealt with. i looooove matsu jun (domyoji tsukasa) with his black wavy hair, kinda pouty lips and strong yet fragile character. i like hanazawa rui's mystery; the support from soujiro and akira also help to complete the formidable F4. damn, these japs are hot! hahaha anyways, in the end, makino and tsukasa bore a child... and that's a wrap!

reminds me of judith mcnaught novels - a more subtle one though - where the guy is very dominant, the girl is meek... at first. and in the middle, their strong characters clash yet beneath what they exude is that sense of vulnerability to the one they love.

awww love.. it feels good to fall in love all over. you never get tired of it, even if you know it just leads you to heartbreak. nyahahaha well, you just don't give up on that coz someday, somehow it will be your turn (to break other's hearts hahaha)

*make love not war*

jdrama: hana kimi

Hana-Kimi, known in Japan as Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (“For You in Full Blossom”) is a shōjo manga series written by Hisaya Nakajo.

Hana-Kimi centers on Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese girl who lives in the United States. One day, she sees a track and field competition on TV, and becomes attracted to one of the competitors, Izumi Sano, competing in the high jump. She begins to idolize the young athlete and eventually transfers to Japan to attend the same school that Sano attends. There is a catch, however—Sano attends an all-boys high school, named Osaka Gakuen, and Mizuki must disguise herself as a boy to enter. The majority of the series happens during Mizuki’s second year at Osaka (from Volume 4 onwards), although her first year was significant for her being able to remain in Osaka.

hanazawa rui from hana yori dango stars as sano, the athlete whom mizuki is trying to help (or stalk). he still has the same passive emo look that you saw in HYD. i loved the dramedy in this series especially when elicited by nakatsu, sano's bestfriend. i sooo adore nakatsu! cute and funny. the way he struggles with himself... coz he feels he's falling in love with mizuki, knowing he's a guy! hahaha he refuses to believe it.. not wanting to be dubbed a fag. however, the heart has ways that you can't understand. so he admitted his liking for mizuki, in spite of the consequences.

i heard there's a taiwanese version too. abs-cbn airs the jap version while gma shows the taiwan version. just great eh?