@mud, that duo are awesome bloggers. They have a lot of informational videos about living in Korea. A very helpful site that I frequent often.

Am praying hard tht wish upon a star will NOT b postpone again ths coming Monday n Tuesday!I dunno wat come over me as I can't wait anymore 2 wat PG got to say to KH's proposal

@ Chuno

Yeah, with ep 10 we are Back in Business!!!

Er, I guess the last thing I should be worried about is a lame happy ending...

My problem with ep 10 is the time-space continuum. I mean, the same space and time one can throw a javelin over, evidently one can not run through faster than it takes two people to exchange e-mail addresses and one of them to die. And with His Highness waiting for you, is it any time to be planting slow tender kisses on a cliff-side? Does anyone else feel sorry for Jang Hyuk, acting his butt off and seeming to be the only one bringing reality and depth to all the posing?

@ Robbers

I speed-watched the last four episodes (the nice thing about unsubtle K-dramas is that you can pick up at any point, what with all the exposition and flashbacks). This aired one year after "Thank You", and hey, if it isn't Jang Hyuk reprising his tortured scoundrel role - this time a swindling scoundrel instead of a chaebol-heir / surgeon scoundrel, but much of the same. And Lee Dae Hae really shouldn't allow herself to be remotely compared with Gong Hyo Jin -- sad single mum with cute child both, but with LDH so self-conscious, I can practically see the ticker tape above her head going "how does this look? Oh, I hope I look affecting crying like this..." Gee, I can't get behind the Jang Hyuk-LDH OTP in "normal" circumstances (well, whatever passes for normality in Robbers..), what hope do I have in Chuno?

@ Kender

Thanks for your rant and spoiler on Creating Destiny. I watched 2/3 of it already but dropped off after the biological mother turned up, and have been wondering if I should finish it. Given what you said and my rooting for the elder sister and the younger guy, I do not need to waste my time on it!!

@ Corner with Love and Show Luo

I am happy to recommend Corner with Love to anybody who likes a good rom com. Both Show Luo and Barbie Hsu are good there.

@ CP and Pasta

Try Pasta! Never would have imagined a drama about the little storm in a small tea cup could be that fantastically fun and sexy! And the music is to die for - seriously the best after Coffee Prince. Gong Hyo Jin - what can I say? It would be a tough call to find another actress who can pitch perfect in doing the role in Thank You and this one in Pasta. It has to be a person with lots of heart in real life.....

@ Down with Love

I will be killed if saying this elsewhere but just to share with you OTers the secret that ..... I watched the "China Version' of this drama. And it has to be one of the best TW rom coms - fluffy fun and guilty pleasure all rolled into one. I was worried that it will be like AC with a great start but diving down hill but DWL is consistently good from beginning till end. Jerry Yan made a surprisingly good turn as the perceptive daddy long legs lawyer who falls hopelessly for the clueless Ella. Enough said, DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!

@epyc

Hahaha, I'm also watching Down With Love! I agree, it's super adorable, even if I hate the children at this point in time. I think I must be watching the TW version, though, because it hasn't aired completely. o.o

@epyc

Also, re: Creating Destiny.

The biological mother arc is actually handled surprisingly well. There's angst, yeah, but then the characters get over it and begin to bond and stuff. (I still will never understand Yeojoon's mother, but whatever.) I almost cried a couple of times. :3

Basically, everything is good except for the last episode.

@epyc

I couldn't agree with you more about Pasta. I think it is the sleeper of this year. It is romantic, has a simple story line, and well acted. I just wonder what the extension of 4 more episodes will do to this delicious story.

It seems to me, writers should know where they are going when developing a story and to extend or shorten would compromise their work. They should stand up for what they believe is best for their drama. I guess I'm being naive.

@ serendipity

1. Yay for jumping back into Chuno - I was *this close* to writing it off as nowhere near as transcendant or affecting as Damo or CitC, and then bam, 10-14 happened and JH singlehandedly made me bow before him in supplication screaming "I am not worthy!"

2. Robbers - *whispers* that is EXACTLTY how I felt about Da-hae's acting in it, and the story was really all over the place and nowhere all at once, I stopped at 10 and that was it. but I am whispering so I don't get disowned by my unnis, langdon and hjkomo, who love it, and with very compelling reason. but I never felt it, sigh, feelings, so subjective.
______________________________________

I finally finished Red Cliff, watched Part II last night. Sigh, I wish I felt......something.....but I was bored, bored and rolling my eyes and feeling all sorts of put out with JW for his posturing, posing, Takeshi swirling in the wind and drinking tea on a ship affectation. I liked Part I much better, but Lin Chi-ling was much better in Part II. However, all the urgency, fear, anxiety has been stripped away, so I might as well be watching an RPG fantasy 300-esque battle of Red Cliff.

My conclusion, it was all spectacle and no heart, I don't feel for the Southern dynasties, I could care less about any character in the movie, and that is a giant failure on the part of JW. He emphasized style over substance, and then went around telling people he humanized all the historical figures. Humanized my left butt, he made them figureheads, symbolic caricatures of the wise, the power-hungary, the confident, etc., name a type, he has one. I don't hate the movie like my twin did, I was just really disappointed and kinda cheated that JW had all the money and actors, just a terrible script and directing.

OMO!!!! OMG.......GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING!!!

ok ..I have been without my k drama/internet fix for lets just say ...longer than needed....I finally got the power cords needed to my MAC...I was so out of it I was in a slump and didnt know what to watch....I was listless,aimless .....dare I say it ?!?!??! even bored with what I did attempt to watch.....no I wont say the names out loud so as NOT to start a rumble.....never the less I started with a Jdrama...about a horror chick and these guys are supposed to make her in to a lady..which is actually quite entertaining...and gokusen...I have a crush on Jun!...but I digress..yet again...
I went back and picked up the threads to IRIS and I am SO SO SO not disappointed..you must understand I very rarely watch this genre...hopeless romantic that I am....yet Lee Byung Hun was the draw for me and I was hooked. HOOKED I TELL YOU!!!!!

To the point....IRIS is the BOMB!....the S*&T! the DAMN...what the heck!!!!!

I am so into this...I am almost to the end...and had to release my thoughts somewhere....so I came here!

that said ....I am going back in!

I'm late commenting here but OB-GYN anyone??
It's getting better and better! Awesome drama!

@ ockoala

*whispers back* It was a Very Bad Mistake to watch Robbers right after Thank You, inviting comparison. Thank You grounded itself in character development and used some drama tropes to mark the journey. Robbers just strung together the same tropes and tossed in a few more for good measure, it seemed to me.

Jang Hyuk's look and style is actually borderline sleazy, and in Robbers I felt he wandered across the line. In Thank You he was doing such a compelling acting job I hardly noticed his gangster walk. And in Chuno his gangster vibe is of course his main appeal and source of character-development interest, i.e., how did he get here from Tame Yangban? We are led to believe that Thwarted Love did it, which is a bit eye-rolling for me, but who's complaining when Dae Gil is so arresting? Poor Dae Gil!

@ Red Cliff

I couldn't stop a kindly friend from buying Part II on DVD for me. Hmm. I guess I'll save it for when I have time to burn.

I feel like I'm rambling today....or is that wandering? Roaming around and waiting for something to happen!

I am enjoying PASTA....great acting.

Also amused with Obstetrics and Gynecology Doctors....really like Jang Seo-hee and Ko Joo-won. So far interesting with good acting by supporting actors...emotional. Love the theme music.

Loving You Thousand Times and Smile You coming down to finales....pretty slow moving for both.

Anybody got suggestions for interesting dramas?

By the way....been checking up on some that are older....I liked Full House and had a good time with BiRain. You know....for a pleasant drama with fun plot I felt he and his leading lady did a pretty passable job. They did drag out the story and it wore thin which could have been done in 16 episodes.

passing the time and waiting for Catch A Falling Star can be mighty boring! :-)

Speaking of Wish Upon a Star...

Has there been any word on whether or not SBS will air new episodes this week? Women's figure skating starts on Tuesday, but if figure skating is aired live it would be in the morning or early afternoon. Hm...

I just wish SBS would say something now instead of me waking up on Monday and being SUPER DEPRESSED. I need time to cope with another week without it!

@ockoala and serendipity

No disowning, just laughing at the sneaky whispering and saying "you so crazy" to both of y'all. Robbers was Awesomesauce with a shot of Magicsauce on the side! Should I ever get proposed to again in this lifetime, that's EXACTLY how I want it to happen. Minus, you know, the guy being in jail part. :-D

Am I the only one watching the short track races and hoping to see Poong-Ho?

Links to watch dramas are sooo bad . Are there any good fullyloaded dramas with eng sub

sigh... currently I'm obsessing over LOCH 08 version after reading all the OT discussion about it... it's weird, i skimmed through this show when it came out and but only to compare it to the 83 version.

This time I am solely watching it to oogle huge and ariel... they are so cute together!

@ yourewaytoonosey

Heh heh heh, claps hand in glee, oh I'm so excited someone else is checking out LoCH 2008! Hu Ge and Ariel had great chemistry, and were so beautiful to look at. You probably know mookie and I think HG got outacted considerably by his BFF Yuan Hong, but still, as a whole, I really enjoyed his Guo Jing at the end of he day. And Ariel - I don't know how many more accolades I can throw this girl, she was brilliant as HR, closest to the novel, and a different interpretation that the classic Barbara version. Do u have a fav scene?

me again....wow if Kim Seung Woo isnt one hansome,sexy man....wow...

later...

@ockoala

i really like YH too and he is one fine boy but I can't help but compare him to Michael and his protrayal of Yang Hong. (Waiting for the clothing show so I can ogle him! =)) I didn't really understand how tragic YH and MNC were when I was young, but as I grew older I was mesmerized by the YH and MNC scenes.

As for HR, I still like Barabara's version better ( I love her evil look), but I also think Ariel nailed HR. That is hands down the highest praise I can give to Ariel towards her acting because I never thought anybody besides Barbara could do RH. I love Felix's GJ, but I love how dumb HG's GJ is. he he..

As a result, reading the novel now during my "free" time... how far will my obsession go...?!

Also, I think that Liu Zhi Zhi?? can ACT. I saw her and Hu Ge on a Taiwan variety show and was amazed by how fast she got into character.

forgot to mention the song for LOCH 08, my god... everytime they play it I am like wooh, time to start awwwing

@ momosan
"but the music director should be beaten with the conductors score of The Ring Cycle"

ROFL!!!!! :P
It's going to take me a while to get that image out of my head.

@ ockoala

Thank you for your Chuno wuxia-sageuk list. Three days later, and I'm still looking for remnants of my stabbed/ripped/beaten/stomped on/lit on fire pieces of my heart. :(
JH, we are not worthy!!!

Of course, you're not disowned...but you know I'm on the side of Magicsauce-Awesomesauce. ;)

@ serendipity

No need to whisper. ;) Your sentiment was quite common with those who loved Thank You. I'm part of the tiny minority who wasn't awed by Thank You. Shin Sung Rok's character was more compelling than Jang Hyuk's (even though I lurve JH), and I didn't like Gong Hyo Jin's characters in both Thank You and Biscuit Teacher and Star Candy, but I absolutely LOVE her in Pasta and Ruler of Your Own World. ;)

@ hjkomo

You didn't like Gong Hyo Jin in Thank You? Wow. I really, genuinely, find that hard to believe. I thought she was luminous, fit to be worshipped. But I'll still talk to you... must strive for tolerance, eh? ;-) :-)

@ Z
"Am I the only one watching the short track races and hoping to see Poong-Ho?"

Ha! He was the best part of that entire show! I always wondered how he left for a competition and came back with medals and now I understand. Its because SK kicks butt at speed skating. His medals how became more legit :)

@Chuno

I am also still crying. Dae-gil screams in the marketplace and then Seol-Hwa crying for him afterwards. WOW. what she said about him and her thoughts got to me. This is just getting better and better.

@ hjkomo, momosan

I compiled my list while still on a JH induced high, so I may have left out a few more events of mass soul-crushing glory, let me rectify that now with an amendment to said list:

11. guy is inadvertant cause of family's demise when his love for his slave girl drives his daddy mad, and provokes slave girl's brother, who is secretly guy's half-brother, at snap and incinerate the family home.
12. guy throws dagger at runaway slave and inadvertantly hits the love of his life who he has been searching for 10 years. guy needs glasses, stat! also needs an UN radar, of the type that TH has acquired in just a few days of running with UN.

I guess the point of the list is to show that each single event is enough to crush a man's soul and psyche forever, and yet DG has had to endure each and every one of them. TH can be the noble self-sacrificing one, but its actually DG that emcompasses the gritty of a drama hero that makes viewers identify with his plight more.

With 10 eps left, DG-UN better be spending 9 out of 10 of them together, preferably piggy-backriding and selecting a replacement Choco. And ditch RubyRose, I better not see those shoes again, esp. DG stroking them in his imagination.

@ yourewaytoonosey

Oooh, I couldn't agree more. Until Ariel, I never believed there could be another performance of HR that I could like, much less love. Barbara's "evil" look was classic, bc she was so adorable and sweet and could turn on a dime.

Below is a YT video someone made as a tribute to Barbara, her best of from LoCH 1982: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNp1LyakWpg

Not all classic TVB adaptations were unforgettable, but for me, only LoCH 1982 and Duke of Mount Deer 1985 were unparallel productions, and it all comes out to finding the utterly perfect actors to play the leads. Andy's RoCH is very very good, as is Chow Yun-fat's Wanderer.

Michael Miu's Yang Kang is THE YK performance, my loverboy's version is like a completely different character so I can't compare. I can say Yuan Hong is a great actor, but his YK is conflicted where MM's YK is openly ruthless and power driven. But when MM's YK died, I cried, too, and that's a testament to MM's acting, truly a leading man performance. And when YH's YK died, I was bawling like a baby.

But the music in LoCH 1982 is da best, my absolute fave, but the music in LoCH 2008 is really really surprisingly unexpectedly good. *giggles* runs off to watch YT vids of YK-MNC now.

@ yourewaytoonosey

I almost forgot - Liu Shishi (the MNC in LoCH 2008) is to me a Crystal Liu Yi-fei twin who can act. She's good, not yet Ariel league (though not many TW-Chinese actresses are her league), but very young and already quite accomplished.

Clothing (the) World is slated to premiere this summer, and from the trailors, Shishi's play a 180 degree opposite character than her MNC, she's fiesty, aggressively pursuing her guy, and totally bratty. I love it!

@ momosan
'I think that for quite a while, as with the QSD ending, all Chuno postings will have to end with “Poor Dae Gil!”'

over at soompi, we started with the Choco-Dae Gil mantra, but now we're chanting Choco's Dae Gil - Un Nyun mantra and spinning our prayer wheels. ;)

@ ockoala

yeah, for someone with auditory GPS navigation, how come he didn't have UN radar??? O_O :P

@ockoala

thanks for the video! loved it...

part of the reason I'm anticipating Clothing the World is because of Liu Zhi Zhi. I saw the trailer where she was bratty and she slapped someone? and I was whoaa, I NEED to watch.

I think YH's YK is complex, probably the most complex character in LOCH 08. I thought YH did a great job because he was able to pull off the complexity, but half the time I'm wondering where YK's character is going.

Michael Miu has the classic wuxia hero look. I read the first three Chor Lau Heung because I saw his protrayal and have not been able to get his look out of my mind.

I also think that Duke of Deer Mountain and of course LOCH is unparallel in production. I love, love, love Tony Leung's WXB. Or I just love Tony, because I loved all of his TVB's production! hehehe I haven't read DDM yet, scared to start because I'm not sure if I would get blogged down by the politics. Have you read it and think it's good reading for someone who never studied chinese history?

For Smiling Wanderer, I'm not sure if it's because I watched the 1996's version first, but that one follows the book to the T and remains my favorite. I love everything about that version except for Xiao Shi Mei. Actually, Xiao Shi Mei is the only character I liked from Chow Yun Fat's version.

@ momosan @ockoala

If the last two eps of Chuno have taught us anything, it's that nothing is too tragic, demeaning, or soulcrushing to inflict on our dear ones. I suspect this is just the beginning of a very long road for Dae-gil.

@ cingdoc

Valium prescriptions all around please! At least two months worth. :-(

langdon813, momosan, ockoala

LOL, Chuno madness going on... Hum, I haven't been able to join the wagon yet. Once I get home, I'll have a bit of time to catch up. May be I'll be able to get into Chuno, then. On the other hand, I might just read recaps and watch the last two episodes. So far, it sounds way too traumatic for me.

I'm finally dome with my classes here in Japan! Going home tomorrow!!! Is it still raining there in So. Cal? At this point, it doesn't matter, I just want to sleep in my own bed! Oh, Code Blue is starting, I'd better go.

Luv you all!

just a hihi fr DaLi (some rural extremely picturesque historical town of China) ;)
ahhh...loving all the LoCH08 love and loverboy YH love! *muak* twin!

and I managed to stay awake TILL ending 11 of China vs Germany for W Curling...what a game! and DAMN jetlag...

@ mookie

Dali is gorgeous! One of my favourite China destinations. Enjoy! Do you get to go out to the mountains?

@37 samsooki

I’m about 2/3’s of the way through Beethoven’s Virus (2008) – and I found the best way to watch is if I am doing something else at the same time, becuase if I watch with 100% attention, then I get very annoyed, but I am paying 50% attention, then it’s okay.

LOL, I know exactly what you mean. That's what I do with most of J drama. Otherwise, that annoyance starts to creep up. Especially with Bloody Monday season2. Despite my love for Haruma kun, there's nothing else going on in that drama. The only thing keeps me going back faithfully to that drama a week after a week is abundance of close up shots of his beautiful face...

Anyhow, I did quite like Time Between Dog and Wolf. Especially the first 2-3 episodes, the kids was way tooo adorable. and the way they re-encounter with each other. I luved that part then...

@ samsookie

i absolutely LOVED Damo. the ONLY drama i marathoned day and nite because i couldn't NOT watch it. (it usually takes me 2 weeks to watch a drama cuz i watch 1-3 eps per sitting).. the only other drama i kinda marathoned was A Love to Kill.. and that took me about 4 days (i want my life back for spending my time watching that drama!!!)

@ retta

have you talked to my twin, lovenyc52? she just finished IRIS and is on the same high as you rite now. i'm pc-less at home for the moment, so i can't join in the spazznezz cuz i've not watched all of IRIS.

@samsooki

I don't have training in classical music and I found it unbearable to watch them play the instruments. I employed the same method and I usually looked away to do something else.

Despite my love for KMM and fondness for JGS I couldn't bring myself to finish BV. Got halfway through. The plot is trite and unless your called "Remember the Titans" I hate these kind of drama/movies, the overall acting from the others is bad to mediocre and production value JV level. I'm not sure if its the sadist in me but as I got more annoyed with the show I started to really enjoy KMM's cruelty to everyone. I wish I could expel the same rainstorm of verbal abuse on some of these characters. Let me know if the last half is better but I thought this drama was really not good enough for KMM. Because he is an exceptional actor it highlights how awful everything else is around him.

BTW JGS was a late addition and he had very little time to prepare while the other actors were given a few months more up front time to learn the instruments apparently. I would hope he would have done a better job if he prepared more.

BTW Samsookie,

I'm really excited your going to be watching Thank You and Ruler of Your Own World Really loved Gong Hyo-jin in both and you can see her acting range playing two different characters. Would love to know your thoughts. I liked Damo a lot and it may require a 2nd rewatch after ockoala's recent review but Thank You and ROYOW are on my current top 10.

Watched two episodes of Robbers before giving up and All About Eve is entertaining especially Kim So-Yeon's character. Kim So-Yeon's Young-mi is the most memorable 2nd lead female character. She is just plain delish in a campy sort of way.

@ samsooki

For sure don't miss Damo. That drama is a must watch! Loved it!

Chuno, what can I say, I finally got caught up through ep 14. I am so all over the place with this story. There are parts I love, parts that flat out bore me and others that irritate the daylights out of me. That said I'm in it to the end.

I must be some sort of masochist or something because I LOVE saguek . While some are more tragic than others , OY! The endings! (tissues required!) Nothing like having your heart ripped out of your chest, thrown on the ground and jumped on with spiked shoes!

As for Chuno, I feel like we are all on the train to Tragedyville. Epic Tagedyville!