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"Thanks for dropping by! Her Korean Things love to share K-Happiness with everyone through blogging down her encounters with anything Korean in her life. This is a place where stories go personal and the Kpop fanatic writer tend to relate most of her food, travel, concert, language, drama, songs, critics and whatever articles to anything Kpop! Feel free to read more about Her Korean Things here!"

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Korean Vocab #6: What Alexander wants to know?


I know I should be completing Super Junior series but this is exceptional! I went for Alexander's Solo Showcase on Sunday and yes I must have a flashcard for him! He's been doing superbly awesome flying solo now and I'm sure there's so many good stuff awaiting him! I believe in believing in your dreams and working hard towards it, Alexander is just one of the many good examples!

Today's Korean Vocab:
그냥 알고싶어 keu-nyang al-go-ship-eo


Breaking it down:
그냥 keu-nyang: Just
알고싶어 al-go-ship-eo: Feel like knowing/Wanna know


This is actually inspired by his new single debut song: "I Just"! Groovy music which starts off with "I Just, Wanna Know". So I thought it would be great if we can say it the Korean way :P This song is simple, not elaborated. But it's that type of song which makes you feel like grooving to its base beat while you are lying on your bed ready to go to sleep. Lastly, it fits Alexander's stage personality totally! Listen to it here!


When to use it?
When someone ask you why you want to know and your answer is "I  just feel like it".
Whenever you wanna know something! Isn't it a handy phrase for all of us? We all love to know something about everything, anything!

Other tips:
그냥 keu-nyang
This phrase also brings out another meaning of "just". It also indicates "so-so".
Can be used as an answer to questions like "how you feel", "what do you think about xxx".

~고싶어 go-ship-eo from 알고싶어 al-go-ship-eo
This phrase actually indicates "I want to [verb]" or "I feel like [verb]-ing"
Eg:
먹고싶어 meog-go-ship-eo: I want to eat/I feel like eating
자고싶어 cha-go-ship-eo: I want to sleep/I feel like sleeping
쉬고싶어 shwi-go-ship-eo: I want to rest/I feel like resting
가고싶어 ka-go-ship-eo: I want to go/ I feel like going
키스하고싶어 ki-seu-ha-go-ship-eo: I want to kiss you/I feel like kissing you
하고싶어 ha-go-ship-eo: I want to do it/ I feel like doing it
말하고싶어 mar-ha-go-ship-eo: I want to say/I feel like saying..

Her Korean Things says:
Today's Korean Vocab, Alexander shared with us how frustrating it is when we want to know something so badly, especially about the person we fell in love with. So HKT says, just make the first step and ask or tell that person how you feel!!! 화이팅!

Thursday 8 December 2011

Korean Vocab #5: When You're Sad, Look At Him


Everyone loves Lee Teuk, the leader of one of the top Korean boy bands in Korea, Super Junior. He's always smiling and telling ELFs how much he loves them, he's always smiling in front of the camera to tell everyone that Super Junior is all right. But behind that smile, there were so many challenges and tough times that we could never have imagined throughout all these years. Even though times have been hard, Lee Teuk always smiles through and brought Super Junior up strong and positive.

Today's Korean Vocab: 
웃어봐 u-seo-bwa


If you watched the K-drama 'Heartstrings', Lee Shin sang this comfort song when Kyu Won was upset. Try to catch the phrase in this song. I'm very sure you'll notice it right from the start!


You can also find the phrase 웃어봐 u-seo-bwa in their ending performance. Very easy to be noticed :)


When to use it?
When you want to cheer a friend up and tell him to smile
When you want to see how a person looks like if he smiles, as in like "give me a smile"
When someone is sad

Other tips:
웃어요 u-seo-yo
To indicate laughing or smiling
Eg: 오빠 지금 웃어요 op-pa ji-geum u-seo-yo (Brother is laughing now)

bwa
This has several meanings. As a word itself, it means "look" or "see".
However if you add this behind a verb, it gives the meaning of "try to [verb]"
Eg:
웃어봐 u-seo-bwa : Try to smile/Give a smile
해봐 hae-bwa: Try to do it (simply means do it)
먹어봐 meo-geo-bwa: Try to eat it (simply means try this food)
말해봐 mar-hae-bwa: Try to say (simpy means tell me about it)
들어봐 deu-reo-bwa: Try to listen

Her Korean Things says:
Today's Korean Vocab, Lee Teuk reminds us to try to smile whenever times are tough.

PREORDER: OFFICIAL SUPER SHOW 3 DVD

Order Deadline: Dec 20
Korea Released Date: Dec 21
Fill in order form here :)
고마워요 komawoyo (thank you)!

The long awaited Super Show 3 DVD is here! With coloured photobook and 2 DVDs plus posters for the lucky ones!


Price: RM 120
Price for 5: RM 110 x 5
Delivery included. Will only be delivered after Dec 26


Package includes:
1. DVD Exclusive Bonus Track
- Sung min's "If You Leave"
- Hee Chul & F(x) duet's "The way an Idol breaks up"
- Rinaldo performance

2. Concert in the making
- Concert rehearsals & members personal interview

3. Special Photobook

4. Disc 1 (84 mins)

5. Disc 2 (134 mins)

Track lists:
DISK 1
1. 3rd Gate
2. Sorry, Sorry
3. Super Girl
4. 돈돈! (Don’T Don)
5. 너 같은 사람 또 없어 (No Other)
6. 멤버소개
7. 고백 (Confession)
8. 좋은 사람 (Good Person)
9. 로꾸거!!! (Rokuko)
10. 봄날 (One Fine Spring Day) [려욱]
11. 내가 너의 곁에 잠시 살았다는 걸 [규현]
12. If U Leave [성민]
13. Looking For The Day [시원]
14. I Wanna Love You [은혁, 동해]
15. 아이돌이 헤어지는 방법 [희철] [Feat. 크리스탈 (F(X)]
16. 챔피언 [신동]
17. 똑똑똑 (Knock, Knock, Knock)
18. 둘이 (You & I)
19. 아주 먼 옛날 (Song For You)

DISK 2
20. Shake It Up!
21. Twins (Knock Out)
22. 미워 (Hate U, Love U)
23. 잠들고 싶어 (In My Dream)
24. 리날도 Performance
25. 진심 (All My Heart)
26. 너 아니면 안돼 [예성]
27. 미인아 (Bonamana)
28. 갈증 (A Man In Love)
29. U
30. Dancing Out!
31. 요리왕 (Cooking? Cooking?)
32. 차근차근 (Way For Love)
33. 멘트
34. You Are The One
35. Wonder Boy
36. Closing


Fill in order form here :)
고마워요 komawoyo (thank you)!

Wednesday 7 December 2011

PREORDER: OFFICIAL Shinee 2012 Desk Calendar (RM 69) + Wall Calendar (RM 79)

Order Deadline: Dec 20, 2011
Korea released date: Dec 12, 2011
Fill in order form here :)
고마워요 komawoyo (thank you)!

Desk Calendar
Price: RM 69
Size: 266mm x 200 cm
Page : 28 pages
Delivery: Included. Will only be delivered after Dec 26

Wall Calendar
Price: RM 79
Size: 612mm x 460mm (Horizontal)
Page: 28 pages
Delivery: Included. Will only be delivered after Dec 26


PREORDER: OFFICIAL Super Junior 2012 Desk Calendar from RM79, Wall Calendar from RM60, Wall + Desk from RM 160

Calling all ELFs!!! Collecting orders for the long awaited Official Super Junior 2012 Desk Calendar & Wall Calendar! Both to be released on Dec 14! I'm so getting the Desk calendar for myself!

WALL CALENDAR
380 x 465 mm (Vertical)
Pages: 15



DESK CALENDAR
Size: 210 x 260 mm (vertical)
Page: 76




PRICE LIST

PRE-ORDER DEADLINE: 
DEC 20
Fill in Order Form HERE

DELIVERY:
Free to 1 address only.
Delivery starts from Dec 22 onwards and will take 5 - 7 working days.


Feel free to browse other items Here.

Remember, pre-order deadline is DECEMBER 10!!!!





Monday 5 December 2011

Jung Sung Ha Proved Talent Comes With Persistence Too!

Many guys play guitar to woo girls.
Many of them treat guitar as an accompanying instrument or a sing-a-long tool.
Many of them prefer to go all crazy and jam with electronic guitars.
But this one young man makes everyone view acoustic guitar in a different way. He is 정성하Jung Sung Ha!

I'm so fortunate to get free entrance to Jung Sung Ha's Live in Kuala Lumpur performance at UCSI today! I've always loved his plays on Youtube and meeting him in person finally is so different. He played right in front of my eyes! This young chap has such amazing talents in him, oh so gifted!
He's that person who can play by ears and make things different from the norm. I like his arrangement and somehow his music just makes me smile. Quoting from his official website "I used to not have tabs for the music that I played in my videos. I just listen and pick them up directly from the sound source in videos available on the internet."


Unfortunately I was a little late so I missed some of the front part, I guessed the opening would be surprising. :) We weren't allowed to take pictures or record so I only managed to take less than 5, where out of them only 2 made it to the "OK this pic is at least clear" stage. My compact camera doesn't work quite well under the dimmed light I supposed.


Sung Ha performed with his acoustic guitar as well as ukulele. Songs ranged from famous english pop songs, to Kpop covers like 2NE1's 'Lonely', Hotel California's 'Eagle', and even our all time favourite Super Mario's theme song mashed up! My favourite would the theme soundtrack from 'Pirates of the Carribean'!

No doubt, everyone cheered as his fingers moved on his guitar strings at such speed which I would never be able to do. At the end of the performance we had an autograph session and I get to take a picture with him!





I'm very sure Sung Ha is not just all talent. Talent is a gift, but a gift have to be mould into an extraordinary gift as well. No one can play a song tip top perfect without consistent practices and constant improvement. This evening Sung Ha showed us that such skills are not built overnight, but over years of pushing himself to go over the boundaries that he'd set, and consistently breaking boundaries!

He'd been an inspiration to most of the aspiring musicians in the room, and to people who love music, like me ;)

Feel free to enjoy some of his awesome plays on his Youtube.


Or you can also view some of the videos below, my favourite picks :P







Thanks for dropping by! Hope you like the videos!



Saturday 3 December 2011

My Top 10 Kpop Christmas Song!

Christmas is near, so near! Koreans celebrate Christmas with great decorations, church performances and yes, Kpop Christmas songs! In South Korea, the population is majority Christians if we exclude those without any religions. You can see churches everywhere. At night, the cross on the churches will be lit up and if you see it from above, you'll be able to see many lighted crosses! Mostly in red or in yellow. That's not only during Christmas season, but every day! Did you know that the largest congregation (more than 1,000,000 members) in the whole wide world is in South Korea? It's the Yoido Full Gospel Church. I've personally been there and I can tell you it's amazing, everything is so magnificent and you can totally feel God's presence! Yeap, I'm a Christian!

Now back to our topic - Top Kpop Christmas song! I've a few which I really love dearly.

#1 - SHOW ME YOUR LOVE by SUPER JUNIOR & TVXQ
This is my very very very first Christmas song by TVXQ and Super Junior when they just debuted! They looked so different years back then, so pure and innocent, so fresh! I'll always remember how YooChun rapped "not that CALL". Seeing this video made me teary, I miss Kibum, Han Kyung, Kang In, JYJ!!


#2 - THE FIRST NOEL by TVXQ
The peaceful Korean version. Again, I miss them as a whole. Don't all Cassiopeia misses them?


#3 - PRAYER by SHINHWA
Every Kpop fan who grew up since the H.O.T. era, would greatly appreciate legendary Kpop like H.O.T & Shinhwa. They're the first generation of the strong Hallyu wave. They are the ones whose songs and dances are always covered by the Kpop artists now like U-Kiss or Beast! This song is so lovely, and the lyrics are exactly the words you would want to hear when you are discouraged and you need strength!


#4 - EVERYDAY IS A MERRY CHRISTMAS by PARK JUNG MIN
Park Jung Min's voice never fails to serenade me to sleep. Although his 'Not Alone' is a great song to comfort us that we're not along during Christmas, I would still pick this song for the season!


#5 - CHRISTMAS WITH YOU by SE7EN
Se7en was one of my top Kpop artist for his song writing talent and dance! I particularly like this song from his album 'Must Listen'. It's really a Must listen! It's that kind of song you would love to play at the background while you and your lover are having a great time together with champagne under the mistletoe!


#6 - FIRST SNOW FIRST KISS by DALMATION ft BEAST YOSEUB
Ok this song makes me sway to the left and to the right when it comes to the bridge! Totally love the bridge!


#7 - THIS CHRISTMAS by JYP NATION (JYP, 2PM, 2AM, WONDERGIRLS, TABLO ETC)
You know how Entertainment companies love to produce their own special company Christmas vids? I love JYP's most because point number one, JYP is in it; point number two - somehow their video seems more homely and warm. Maybe it's nice to see the director singing along with them. JYP is one different outstanding director in this field, he sings, dances, writes, choreo and more!


#8 - CHRISTMAS SERENADE by 4MEN, MI & BEBE MIGNON
Everyone loves 4Men's voice don't they? The beautiful voices playing at the background of the drama "Boys Over Flowers". This song was made perfect with Mi & BeBe Mignon added into it. Their vocals are so complementing! Makes the song feels Christmasy too!


#9 - MERRY CHRISTMAS IN ADVANCE by IU & THUNDER
I always thought that IU's voice is suitable for Christmas song :) I'm right! And MBLAQ's Thunder add a sweet twist to the whole song and I love it!


#10 - NO OTHER by SUPER JUNIOR
Honestly, this is not a Christmas song. But I think it's totally great for it to be dedicated during Christmas! Would it be because they're giving gifts or doing special stuffs for their loved ones that's why there's such Christmas feeling? :) Dedicate it to someone whom you want to tell them that there's no other like him/her and he/her is such a great gift and lovely person!


UPCOMING - WHITE CONFESSION by INFINITE
This is the teaser which stirred all Infinite lovers. How will the song be like? The background music made it seem it's gonna be a lovey dovey christmas song to someone you love again!


So, WHAT is your favourite Kpop Christmas song or which song you would like to dedicate during Christmas and WHY?



Thursday 1 December 2011

Reliving "Goong 궁" At Teddy Bear Museum, Jeju!

ROYAL FAIRYTALE: Of love, politics and scandals.

I heard someone screamed "이신 Lee Shin!!!!", or "이율 Lee Yul!!!!". Yes, if you tell me you weren't impressed with "Goong", there's something wrong with you, I can list out 10 reasons why I (and most of us) love this K-series so much!

"Goong" has been one of a hit drama few years back and it made Teddy Alfred and friends went famous!
GOONG BEARS: A teddy affair?

In 2010 I've been to the Teddy museum at Namsan Tower, Seoul but the Teddy Bear Museum at Jeju Island is way better! The museum showcased important milestones in human history and those teddies seriously potrayed the story in such a cute manner! It just makes me so in awe how delicate these bears were made! Some big history which we are familiar with:
TEDDIES RULE: The day when man landed on the moon

 TEDDIES FIGHT: World War 2

 TEDDIES PLAY: The launching of Disneyland!

The museum was so huge and properly planned for its storyline so that visitors will have a great time there like how I did! After all these amazing human history flash back there came iconic bears people! Bet you definitely can recognize everyone of them below although they've been teddified!





When you walk further you could see teddy bears in traditional 한복 han-bok (Korean attire), working around the 한옥 han-ok (Korean House) as well. It depicted Korean village life in the olden days. Not forgetting, these teddy bears are moving as well! You'll be able to see them picking up bricks, moving around the house, or aimlessly pointing here and there. At some area you might be able to see baby bears running around. :)

KOREAN WEDDING: Even the Teddy Bride has pink cheeks!

TEDDY WITH KIMCHI: A typical Han Shik lunch among the Koreans

 FATHER & SON: Preparing to go fishing?

Talking about Han-ok like these, I'll be blogging soon about the real Han-Ok, where Koreans are still living in such traditional houses, soon! You won't be able to believe it when you see it with your eyes. I thought places like that were for tourism purposes but there are still people living in it!


I like how the designers put every pieces into one so meticulously, so delicately, so detailed! Most importantly, everything is so similar and so alike! Mini slippers, baskets, spectacles, hats, hanbok, bowls etc! I think they are seriously gifted with super talented hands for things like these! My pics here may be big but note that the size of the bears are some times just as big as your palm, or even smaller! At some point of time you'll also be able to see some adorable designs like below!



Contrary to the Namsan Seoul Tower Teddy Bear Museum, this museum has a huge outdoor garden. And yes, there are teddy bears out there too! I had some fun fooling around with the big bears out there! When I say big, yes they are really big! 커 keo (big)!!! They are taller than me at least!

Teddies teddies teddies, how can I miss mentioning the most important character of all teddies? The one where Chae Gyung hugged so tightly in 'Goong'...

Yes it's this teddy who has it's own royal chair in its own royal cube!!!!!

 :)

With the craze of such Teddies after every episode of the drama; last year's "Playful Kiss" K-drama also had their teddy scenes after every episode and I screamed over it again! Kim Hyun Joong is a bomb, Hyun Joong bear is cute too!
PLAYFUL KISS K-Drama

The teddy experience might not be such a satisfying one for my cousins but for me it was worthwhile, although a little pricey at 8,000 won (USD 8) per entrance. However, glad that we did something stupid though when we saw two big bears at a corner, with no one around! Please do not report me to the museum authorities!
GREAT ENTERTAINERS: Having one crazy time with the bears

So why did I say reliving "Goong"? Because every Teddy I saw it just made all "Goong" episodes flashing back in my head!

For more pictures please view my Facebook Photos here.


TIPS FOR TOURIST
Who Should Go?
If you are into "Goong" teddy bears and you like teddy bears or anything cute and miniature. If not, don't waste your time.

How to Go?
In Jeju, it's best if you have an international license so you can just scooter around. Or, take a cab. Public transportation like buses are hard to wait.

Address:
Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Seogwipo-si Saekdal-dong 2889 (Jungmun Tourist Complex)

Entrance Fees:
Adult: 8,000 Won
Youth: 7,000 Won
Child: 6,000 Won

Opening Hours:
09:00 - 20:00 (High season July 18th to August 23rd 09:00 - 22:00
(Tickets are available for sale until 19:00)

Website:
http://www.teddybearmuseum.com/Etc/English.asp