I watched "Star in My Heart" my senior year in high school and that summer after graduation, attended Yonsei University for their KLI summer program. I LOVED Ahn Jae Wook/Kang Min and before getting to Korea, let my mom know I wouldn't be back until I met him. At the time my cousin was a writer for one of the major broadcast networks there - I shared the same sentiment with her - that I would not leave Korea until I met him. Well whaddya know? She hooked me up! He was working on a play and took my friends and I to a rehearsal. So we met him, took pictures, got autographs. The end? NOPE!

He invited us to his fan club's summer getaway. Drove us there in his car. Let us stay at the residence he was using at the camp site (don't worry - nothing sketchy! My cousin and his staff stayed here too). Woke us up in the mornings. Drank soju with us at night. And then drove us back to Seoul, singing some songs for us in the car from the "Star in My Heart" soundtrack. It was surreal...but I think we made some enemies out of his fans who didn't understand the special treatment haha. He gave us his address and phone number too :)

Oh we also got to meet Kim Haesoo through him - she's scary and unfriendly but I can respect her for her acting chops nonetheless...and her non-conformity to the anorexic look.

I guess this anecdote is more a story of luck vs. crazy k-drama addiction but hey, I was serious when I said that I wasn't leaving Korea until I met him. Perseverance! and a little bit of luck :)

the first time i encountered the kdrama addiction was when i was 16, living in a dorm, seeing 6 girls (dorm mates) with eyes glued to one single computer watching Endless Love on DVD. at that time i thought they were so silly, cos we know how sad and heartbreaking the storyline was and all the girls would weep together in front of the computer just because the story was sad. it was the craziest thing ever and frankly quite silly, just because i hadn't joined the cult :p

and now i'm eating my words from long ago and is the craziest when it comes to kdrama among all my friends!

the first show that got me falling in love head over heels was Full House, back when i was a sophomore. Finished watching the antics of Bi and Song Hye Gyo in two days (had the 'Bear' song on repeat and i would hit the 'pause' button to just learn how to pronounce the words and sing alongside ^^). And suddenly i wanted to know all about Hangul and started learning the alphabets once i finished watching the show (not to mention downloading the OST, and finding all FH posters online to store them in my laptop). I now know how to read Hangul (not good at speaking still) and as any of you who reads this post can tell, i'm not even remotely korean.

and now that i've reached the quarter life mark, and feeling bored with my job, im planning for a 3 months getaway to korea, spend crazy time there, properly learn the language, and eat all the tasty food out there (both road side and at the food tents they always show in their dramas - soju in hand of course) - and maybe i can pull off the MNIKSS antics while hugging the pink pig doll and throwing tantrum a hot korean male? LOL who's the dreamy one now? still, i'm loving every moment of it :)

Dear JB and GF,

It started with Hearts of Something (I didn’t know/couldn’t remember the title; I thought it was something like Hearts in Spring), which I found on KBS World in Vietnam when I was in Hanoi for several months a few years back. It played from 6:20pm to 7pm Mon-Thurs. I found it by accident while channel surfing, and I must have happened on about episode 35 or so. So I had no idea who anyone was or what they were up to. I watched it again a few nights later, and then soon, every day I had to be back at the hotel by 6:25 so I could watch it. I’d seen My Little Bride on an airplane and fallen deeply for Kim Rae Won. But the lead guy in this drama I thought was so bleh-looking I really didn’t think he was the lead for a long time, I couldn’t figure out what was going on with the lead female and was totally confused by her relationship to the 2nd guy’s family… none of it really made sense, but I could not stop watching. I was desperate when I realized I was going to have to leave before the series ended. So when I went back to Vietnam about 6 months later and the show was over, I scoured the DVD shops to find even a pirate version (trying to explain the storyline in Vietnamese b/c the dvds didn’t always have English names on the covers, “There’s a girl who’s really poor, and the son of a rich family falls in love with her…”)… but no luck... one helpful dvd seller patiently explained that EVERY Korean drama has a poor girl in love with a rich boy, so explaining the story wasn’t going to be much use.

One of my students eventually recommended I try finding the unfinished Hearts of Something (which no one I asked ever seemed to heard of ) on mysoju. I couldn’t find it but I did come across the strangely-named 1st Shop of Coffee Prince. Sounded odd. So I thought I would see what that was about. Watched one episode but the picture quality was really poor. I liked the idea of the story, but I could hardly see what was going on, so I thought I’d stop there. But the next weekend I got to wondering what would happen in that show, so I watched another episode. Then the third a few days later. Then one a day. By about Episode 9 I was frantic to find out how it would end (this was before I knew about the OTP and I really thought Ahjusshi #2 had a serious chance and I was cheering for him!) so I stayed up and watched them all. I had to teach the next day. I knew it was a bad idea, but I just could not stop watching. I even went ahead and randomly picked out a minute here and there in the last two episodes to see if I could see enough to reassure myself that it would end ‘well’, and then I told myself I would go to bed. But I couldn’t. I just went back to where I’d left off, and watched them all, one by one. To the bitter end (about 5am). Dragged myself in to class the next day (it used to be no big deal to stay up all night; now it takes me a few days to recover). That was a long class.

Only last year I finally found, under the name Pure 19, the dvd set of that first drama and of course I stayed up that night and marathoned my way through the last 3rd of the series. Thank goodness for fast-forward. I just had to know how it ended.

What have I done in the name of /as a result of my kdrama addiction? I have:
- Dragged a non-drama watching friend on a Coffee Prince filming location pilgrimage around Seoul, with selected locations from MNIKSS and My Girl;
- Bought a Coffee Prince coffee mug in the CP café;
- Tried to teach myself Go Stop;
- Made dukkbokki;
- Converted several friends and their children to kdrama (using Coffee Prince or My Girl);
- Tried to teach some friends Go Stop;
- Done another filming location pilgrimage in Seoul (bought a CP teacup and saucer set in CP café; ate triangle maki from a convenience store (a la Accidental Couple); and ate dukkbokki and other stuff some of which I wasn’t too sure about from street stalls a la Goong and BBF—when I saw the street food scene in WUAS I was yelling at the screen, “I’ve eaten that! I’ve eaten that! Damn! I didn’t eat a sweet potato!”);
- Started wearing sleeveless hoodies and cardigans a la What’s Up, Fox?;
- Begun listening almost exclusively to Korean/Asian music (I can sing along (badly) with several of my favourite songs, despite knowing nothing but Kdrama Korean—I love you, I miss you, I’m sorry, My mother doesn’t approve of us);
- Become addicted to your recaps during BBF/BOF, now check your site daily;
- Started watching dramas as they were airing last year with City Hall and Accidental Couple; this means an agony of engagement with the story and characters stretches out over weeks (months in the case of Sons of Sol Pharmacy House) during which I worry five days a week about how things will progress on the other two days;
- Started watching the live streaming of dramas with YB even though I don’t speak Korean, but I could not wait even for your recaps (then I DL’d raw version and watched again after reading the recaps, then watched the whole series again after getting the item listed below)—this involves getting up early in the morning to have breakfast, shower, and make my lunch, while getting the stream going, then watching the drama, then racing to get to my class on time… I continued this very dangerous trend with WUAS and fervently wish never again to become so hopelessly invested in any drama b/c it’s so exhausting;
- Bought the DC DVD box set of YB and a Hwang Tae Kyung keychain (found the latter in an "idol shop" in Taipei);
- Scoured Hanoi hair accessory shops to find something like the barrette HTK gave GMN (partially successful);
- Watched Goong, The Man of the Vineyard, and Hana Yori Dango Special with subs so bad they were utterly incomprehensible, but I watched them anyway;
- Read the Goong manwha in Vietnamese;
- Watched variety show Happy Together without subs and still laughed;
- Been asked if I would like a loyalty card at my local Korean grocery store b/c I shop there so much;
- Purchased metal chopsticks for use at home;
- Rewatched CP as soon as I found Dramafever and MARVELLED at everything I’d missed with the crappy picture quality the first time I’d watched it – then bought my own DVD set, just in case I ever need to watch it and I can’t get online;
- Asked, while making casual conversation with Koreans I’ve just met, if they own a humidifier;
- Of course, purchased dozens of Kdramas, Kfilms, and Kmusic cds (purchased all over Asia and online);
- Finally, volunteered with a fansubbing group;
- And… and.. and....

Subsidiary effects of addiction:

Recently, I watched Fated to Love You (on the recommendation of OTers here) and summarized it in chunks to a colleague on our subway rides home from work. Got her completely hooked (so much that she’s harassing me now to summarize Down with Love for her). She doesn’t want to watch them, just to hear about them. But boy does she want to hear about them. I bought her a Fated To Love You keychain in Taipei as a souvenir and was very pleased to note her instant recognition and scream of delight (the latter was unanticipated and a bit scary).

This is not something I have done myself but was so adorable and creative I have to share: the 12-year-old daughter of friends, whom I converted to Kdrama (using Hana Yori Dango followed by CP, MNIKSS, and YB) made a calendar for my Christmas present by photoshopping pictures of the two of us into downloaded images of Hanadan, YB, and so on (e.g. when the A.N.JELL band members are clustered around the keyboard, we’re inserted so it looks like they’re singing to us; the F4 striding into the school hallway has been expanded to the F6, etc). Truly hilarious! (The Hwang Tae Kyung keychain mentioned above is destined to be part of her Christmas present this year. Despite the impressive competition on these pages, I’d like to win the YB box set prize to make up the rest of her Xmas present.)

In other words, there are few aspects of life which have not be affected by this k-drama addiction.

OK, that was a cathartic confessional experience, but I'd better stop. I am enjoying everyone else's stories immensely. This was a brilliant idea for a "competition".

Hi JB,

My K-drama addiction started with Romance. I was completely head over heel for Kim Jae Won! That smile of his killed me and so I started doing more research on him and found out that his nick name is "killer smile." No wonder why I almost died! Anyway, I was determined to watch everything that I can find him in which lead me to My love Patzzi, Rival, She is Nineteen, Wonderful LIfe, 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant...etc. Then through My love Patzzi, I fell in love with Kim Rae Won and my search on him began. After my Jae won's addiction, i needed my Rae Won's fix so I started all the following series: Gourmet,What Star Did You Come From, Love Story in Harvard, Attic Cat. In Love story in harvard, I fell in love again with another character, Lee Jung Jin. Well you know the drill. So I started out only watching dramas but now I like everything korean-related. I love Korean culture, pop music, food, sports...etc. My sister and I would say things here and there in Korean even though we're not Korean and my other sisters think that we're crazy but we dont' really care. WE would go to eat Korean BBQ, wrapped the meat in lettuce and drink soju. Afterwards, we went home and karaoke since there isn't a norabang around our area that we know of. Now my list of korean dramas that I've seen are in pages. I don't know how it's possible for me to fall in love with so many guys but Korean dramas make it all possible. I would stay up unitl 4 to and go to work the next day and watch it some more at work. I missed out on a lot of outings but it doen'st really matter, all that matters to me is : Park Shi Hoo, Lee Min Ho, Lee Jung Jin, Jang Geun Suk, Joo Ji Hoon , Cha Seung Won , Kwon Sang woo (don't care about his recent accident:), Kang Ji-hwan and the list goes on and on.........

I was one of the people who were hit by the Korean Wave back in the early 2000's after the Meteor Garden craze in the Philippines. My first kdrama was Autumn in My heart. Back then, my addiction was still controllable until it peaked in 2006 where it almost ended my marriage! Yeah, I was pretty wrapped up in my kdrama world with Bae Young Joon, Bi and Won Bin. I watched a whole series and stayed up all night, that even my hubby locked me out of our room. It affected my work, my productivity and yep, like a true addict, it affected my whole life. So my hubby put his foot down and since he can't do anything, he joined me in my addiction and helped tame it down. He watched full house with me, and he got hooked too! But we agreed to only watch 3-4 episodes a day. But there were times that the addiction took over him too, one time I caught him watching Attic Cat on his own! We would converse in korean sometimes, using words picked up from watching. We would try all the Korean restaurants and I've learned how to make bibimbap, kimchi and kimbap. We even dream about the next episodes. Until now, we're both addicted but we are managing the addiction because we now have a little girl who's crazy about Dora, so Dora has more screen time than our kdrama idols. So we watch when she's asleep, and I guess in a way, kdrama strengthened our marriage. :-)

Hi Dramabeans,
After reading the above posts, I realise we could all start a KDA (k drama annymous; as in like Alcohol Anonymous?). Likely most of the "crimes" mentioned above, most of us k drama addicts have committed them.
As for me, I became a certified addicted around the time Full House was shown in Seoul. Having to wait until my friend downloaded the episodes was killing me. So I begged her to teach me to how to use the clubbox to download. (At that time, it was the only way to get hold of the episodes surely and quickly!) But she wasn't going to let me have it that easy. She gave me the address of forums and made me do it the "discovery learning" way. I had to read thro' all the posts; some of it in very "foreign" alphabets made of squares and circles! I read, made friends, begged, signed up for hanguel class, and managed to master clubbox (many of which had their shows' name in hanguel!). My first piece of downloading project was MNIKSS; which is now a treasured piece because I remember the amount of work that went into downloading it. I learnt how to make fan music videos of it, how to hardsub it, ......gosh it brings back memories.Thanks to this addiction, I picked up hanguel, ate korean food every friday at a korean restaurant, became introduced to the world of k pop, attended k concerts (had to fly out of my country for that), brought some friends (pre-addicts) and played tour guide in Seoul! Like most of you, I have spread the " drama love" bug to hundreds of my friends. Most of them are now addicts too or fans of k drama.
I'm happy to say my k addiction is now under "control" except I still wake up early in the morning at 2am to check my downloads!
Come to think of it, this addiction has also brought many good things, rite?

Gosh, if words can express my unfound reasoning to my k-drama addiction then those words will be typeset on The Korean Daily newspaper printed on page 5 in 3/4 length layout. The proof? A copy in my possession. I haven't decide whether to toss it away or frame it up.

Yes, my infatuation lead me to an interview, and that open opportunities for me I never imagine possible. To take the story from its birth, I have my mother to thank or sue for getting me hooked to an I.V. drip called dramamine [not to be confused with dimenhydrinate although very close in a sense... of humor] when I was little. Switching from action to light-heart comedy made from Hong Kong to bawling love stories made from Taiwan. Later this addiction evolved to Japanese now Korean dramas. My first Korean show was Full House, and I have kept that drip line fresh ever since.

Through acquaintances, I was asked to do a newspaper article interview to stir the Hallyu wave bridging other Asian Americans to what Korean Americans take pride for, and that was witnessing their culture stamp a trend bar in American youth otherwise spoiled by Starbucks, reality shows, Sponge Bob, and Twilight. A friend and I drove from the East end of Los Angeles County to the West end soul of Koreatown. We sat with a male reporter from The Korean Daily at a swanky restaurant for dinner; it was a casual encounter while warming our interest in hot tofu soup and soju he asked us what we know of this Hallyu wave. I'll let my Chinese American friend vouch for herself, as I was enlightened by the Korean food and drinks to boost my energy I kept a tight rebuttal to whatever this evening ask of me being Chinese-Vietnamese (Asian) American. I knew that interview will get printed in the papers, however I had no clue to its size of magnitude. When I received a copy of my piece, I was stunned how it spread onto three-quarters of a page.

After this interview, I got tracked down from a Korean broadcast station to do a TV interview, and it lead me to those music festivals at Hollywood Bowl, travelling to Seoul, and some. It has been a nice journey and so it goes to show how an open mind and big heart will allow good events cast onto oneself. So learn more my friends, and be good to life.

Anyhow, this is my story and I hope you enjoyed it somewhat. Thanks for tuning in.

(Whoa there are so many good stories in the comments haha! I almost forgot about commenting because I was too absorbed reading all those stories. xD Whoops, here we go.)

I just want to begin to say that I've probably never done anything even close to flying to famous filming locations, or any of the super entertaining things you guys have done...but I'm here to share my story anyhow.

What began my drama addiction goes way back to when I had just started school, around age 7, when my dad's manager visited our house one day before leaving to Shanghai. He left a box of a new Chinese drama called The Bronze Teeth. My parents and I started marathoning through the 48 episodes of the historical drama that night, and before we knew it, we had reached one-half of the series and it was 4 in the morning.

Ever since that first experience with asian dramas I began trying out Taiwanese dramas, then Japanese dramas, and finally Korean dramas. A habit of mine was to write diaries when I was a kid, when I started getting hooked into dramas, I found that I began writing reviews and rants, pages and pages about DRAMAS. And lists of the good and not-so-good actors/actresses. Even now, when I watch dramas, I keep a legal pad by the computer just in case a really good one comes up and I could write what I like about it and what I didn't.

By 7th grade, the only topic I would talk about to my friends were about dramas. Everything was a drama. Even in my dreams, I would dream epics inspired by my favorite historical romance drama at the time, and so on. Obsessed much? xD And my drama crushes would be on print-outs plastered all over my room because my parents wouldn't let me buy the actual posters!

The only one period of time I remember doing something completely out of my mind for the sake of watching asian dramas was probably the mornings in middle school when I got addicted to Hana Yori Dango and in high school when the korean version came out. Woke up around 4am every morning and logged on the computer to follow the show like a maniac haha.

My story might not have been the most exciting or funny to read, but I really enjoyed telling it and reminiscing back to all those years of drama watching. This addiction influenced the direction of my career choice and from watching so many dramas from various languages - has made me appreciate all of these cultures and ultimately opened my eyes to realize cultures, languages, customs like nothing else will ever do.

Finally, a big thanks to javabeans and girlfriday for letting me share my story possible!! You guys have the best drama reviews ever, I love you guys :))

I fell in love with korean dramas when i watched "All About Eve" and never stopped ever since. Before they aired it on TV subbed in mandarin, guess that's why my mandarin became good. Now there are internet and DVDs that i can watch more korean dramas with, i changed to listening it as is, in korean. I even bought a korean -english dictionary too. And also i loved OSTs, before i used to use a cassette recorder to record the OST right from the TV! Good thing now there are CDs for sale and sometimes download from the net. My 2G MP3 is purely for korean drama OSTs!!!

Used to watch tagalog-dubbed KDramas on local TV here in the Philippines..like Stairway to Heaven,Full house...my faves being Only You& Stained Glass. While watching Spring Waltz (bec. of Daniel Henney)...I'd jump to Channel 7 to glimpse at Coffee Prince during commercials. Little did I know that' that drama would CHANGE my whole life & turn it upside-down..inside-out!!!

I became so addicted with GY & YEH,taht I couldn't stand to wait for it's nightly broadcast..so I bought 3 CP dvds, the tagalog-dubbed version, 1 w/ English subs & 1 for back-up!!! I fell (& still am!!) hard for GONG YOO & started asking my sis-in-law to help me research his past works & download his pix...since I WAS a computer "illiterate"!! Started buying & watching his other dramas...& trying to learn some computer basics since I wanted to know more about him & can't always rely on other's help. After saturating myself w/ everything & anything GY ...he was then in the military, I started watching other KDramas...& got HOOKED!!! That was on DVDs for about a year & having amassed around 80 dramas..I was feeling restless again...

I eventually learned by myself on how to navigate the computer(my hubby's desktop) & found a whole new world of watching KDrama online, streaming & later downloading!! It was through researching about CP & GY..that I chanced upon DRAMABEANS!! JB, your recaps & articles introduced me into the mainstream KDrama WORLD!!! you know I even have a notebook to list down all those KActors' names & list of dramas( like a mini-dramawiki!!) just to help me memorize their names!!! The rest is KDrama history...

I have since bought my own laptop & am leaving on Friday for Seoul with 2 of my Gong Yoo Lover friends!!! We're planning on back-packing our way to Seoul & timed our 2-week-visit to coincide with GY's birthday on the 10th!!! Hoping there'll be a fan meet or else...we'll just simply "stalk" him!!! LOL!!!

I do have funny family-anecdotes...but all in all, my friends & family members think I'm a "weirdo" & always almost make fun of my "addiction" every chance they get..but all in a funny way!! Most discussions often lead to my 1st out of the country trip to Seoul...why of all places Korea, what'll I do there, a 50-year-old grandma backpacking etal. But they have no choice..cuz I'm neither flustered or affected nor unfazed by it all...so they've "accepted" my craziness... eventually!!

My KDrama addiction story may not be new to anyone in this forum nor do I want to win that YAB dvd set...just wanted to share my experiences & thank you JB..for almost 4 years of giving me my FILL of your daily recaps, articles, etc. Dramabeans has been part & parcel of my KDrama world & I'm glad to have 'cyber-friendships' with all you DB-addicts, as well!!!

ok, these stories aren't gonna win any awards but i thought i'd share :)

i have 4 girlfriends who are fellow kdrama addicts (thought they'd argue that i'm more addicted than they are :). YB was one of those that got us hooked. we talked about everything YB, including minam/minyeo's cute outfits. we all loved the eternity scarf.

guess what when we opened our christmas presents? we all got eternity scarves. yes, scarves. each of us got 2 or more eternity scarves. everyone thought of getting everyone an eternity scarf. amazingly, nobody got two of the same even if some of us shopped at the same store.

this year, our big addiction was personal taste. and i found kae in's rolling alarm clock from ep 1 on amazon. i have filed that away as a gift idea for christmas, unless i get a better inspiration from other dramas. now i hope my friends don't see this post as i want my present to be a surprise :)

other crazy stuff... i've also had my fair share of late nights of kdrama watching. i'd do 5 to 7 hour marathons on evenings and weekends. i have a friend whose favorite kdrama is jumong. and she's seen it about 7 times. 80 something hours multiplied by 7. dang! i'm an addict but she has me beat!

i also download the soundtrack and i have them on my old ipod. when i gave it away to my dad, my sister removed the OSTs but she missed a few. imagine my embarrassment when my dad plugged it into his car and out came BBF songs. thankfully, dad tolerates my craziness, and anyway he got a free ipod. he's not gonna complain :)

one not so crazy story. my first kdrama was my girl and i loved it. right around the time i was watching it, a co-worker accidentally spilled boiling water on her 2 year old daughter. she was taking the pot off the stove and didn't see her daughter behind her. the poor girl had 2nd degree burns on parts of her face, arms and legs. it was such a depressing time for my co-worker. she says she cannot forgive herself, what if those scars never heal?

i wanted to cheer her up so i sent her a link to my girl. and she loved it too. i think it helped her that for an hour or two a day she's able to laugh and not think so much about the accident.

it's been 2 or 3 years since, and her daughter has completely healed. no one would be able to tell that she had that accident.

i skipped 15 days of school this year because i wasn't prepared for tests due to having wasted the whole night before watching kdramas T_T

I started my addiction with kdramas two or three years ago when I watched Stairway to Heaven. It made me cry a lot and after that I started looking for more dramas like Winter Sonata, Beautiful days and many more. I enjoy listing there music too, I am very particular with it. I have this habit of finishing it in one sitting only, as in my break would only be going to the restroom and eating meals, other than that, no one can stop me. My addiction to kdramas reached the point wherein my husband and kids has been nagging me to stop watching such. But they were never successful in doing so. It was like a routine for me, I felt sick if I couldn't watch an episode or two in a week's time. I have purchased a lot of kdramas and watched them all, even if I go out of the country, I still go and shop at dvd stores looking for new ones. I normally sleep at 1 or 2 in the morning, and has even reached 4 a.m. just to satisfy myself and report to work at 7:30 a.m. I was like a zombie at the office, but that made me happy.

hah all these stories are hilarious
i pretended to be sick for weeks so i could stay home and watch dramas lol my mom was pissed off when she found out i really wasn't. now i try acting like those ppl in drama
i hope i can go to korea one day and visit all the celebrities :)
♥♥♥

Hahaha some of these stories are so intense, where to start for me....this is going to be really rambly because I haven't talked about my obsession in so long, and this is SO refreshing. So I'll talk about my history with dramas, including what my obsession has compelled me to do, but also how dramas have enriched my life. XD

I think the first drama I'd ever seen was Autumn Tale, which I saw in Taiwan with Chinese subtitles...and didn't fully understand at the time when I was watching with my 10-year-old cousin, but I eventually rewatched it in English and appreciated it again. I should mention that I have a really bad memory when it comes to dramas, movies, etc. so I can watch things after what I like to call the "1 year memory window" and after that passes, I do not remember the plots of dramas, who ends up with who, etc. which are kind of a big deal, right? Well, it makes it easy for me to "keep things fresh" and rewatch dramas without getting bored HAHA.

Anyway, while there's been a major gap of at least a couple years where I didn't really watch any dramas, I remember when I was at the peak of my dramaholic years I was a sophomore in high school. I was watching I'm Sorry I Love You, and the drama made me so emotional that I had trouble sleeping at night, went to school falling asleep in class, and I failed all my exams that winter. It was really unfortunate that I hadn't waited until after it was over to ruin a break by getting all the emotions out at once and would be distracted in classes thinking about next week's episode. I would get by each week by studying Korean, including digging up the scripts from the KBS website (back when they were semi-accessible even though I wasn't Korean and didn't know half the things I was reading on the page). I'd watch the live streams barely understanding the dialogue and plot, watch the episodes again when the English subs were quickly cranked out and REALLY appreciated the episode by watching it slowly and perfecting the English subs along the way, then afterwards study the script to learn Korean. By then I'd learned to read Korean and knew only very common/elementary words/phrases..but I picked up fast :D I started writing down "important phrases"...and I do that with most dramas now. Korean friends ask me where I learn things when I use "mijiwang" and "merong" (from My Name is Kim Sam Soon)...because sometimes they don't even know lol.

Eventually I had in my possession the screen name dramah0lic (had to use the lame 0 cuz the o was taken haha), inspired by Loveholic. Man, I was so obsessed with Kangta after that. I usually find the best music from OSTs and keep myself busy post-dramas by watching other dramas related to the actors and discovering their music if they're artists. I'd learned Korean for the sole purpose of being able to read lyrics for songs so I wouldn't have to wait for them to be written in konglish and could sing along to songs that weren't so popular with kids these days or songs from a certain scene of a drama....like in Sweet 18 when Lee Dong Gun sang Neo Reul Saranghae. My proudest moment in my performing history was singing M to M's Miracle from Which Star Are You From? in a karaoke contest in front of an audience of at least 200+ people and whlie I didn't win, that's become my signature song when I go karaoke since everyone requests it for me...even though none of my friends know where the song came from haha.

I like to tell myself that watching dramas allows me to figure out what I want and don't want in a future relationship/husband, and while that doesn't replace real experience in dating to figure things like that out, I definitely want my future husband to be able to appreciate dramas with me. In general I like to watch things because of the emotions they stir in me, and as weird as this sounds...I feel like I've learned to be more compassionate by exercising emotions while watching dramas and learning to understand people from different walks of life, whom I may not have encountered being a student. I grew up thinking that feelings are irrational, but I've come to appreciate emotions...because God gave us intellect AND feelings. While logic and rationale can allow people to exercise deductive reasoning and see things from the same perspective, feelings aren't so easy. While watching I'm Sorry I Love You I cried for the first time while watching something. I thought something was wrong with me since I was used to being stonecold and asking myself "I'm a girl, why am I not getting emotional over this?" Well..that drama opened the flood gates for me. Now crying is not an issue for me anymore lol, thank you dramas. I can be a human being and feel now! HAHA okay I was able to feel before, but I didn't let it show. Just like Mi Nam's feelings exploded, my feelings exploded during that drama and after that I allowed myself to feel those feelings. So I watch dramas by screaming, pointing, throwing things at my screen, crying, having nightmares, etc. I'm very "involved," as my friends like to say...which they observe when I watch dramas on my computer while studying at the library when we're in our study groups. Anyway, I also learned about different cultures, occupations, and industries that I otherwise wouldn't be exposed to. Watching dramas were a total life learning experience for me..whether my parents acknowledge it or not when they see me lying in bed all day getting through my marathon of a drama.

And of course..what kind of fan are you without the merchandise associated with certain dramas? I completely obsessed over Winter Sonata when I went back to Taiwan one year. I found the Polaris necklace at a music store along with piano scores for all the songs and practiced hard to learn them, even though I stink at playing the piano. I actually made my equally drama-obsessed piano teacher discipline me enough to memorize "From the Beginning Until Now" well enough to perform it (with plenty of emotions residual from the drama), and still remember it many years later. I don't really play the piano anymore, but whenever I see a piano I play this song, and this song only. Anyway, the same day I was at that music store and got the necklace and sheet music, I also found out Park Yong Ha had just debuted as a singer in Taiwan and I made my mom chaperone me to his concert, followed by me buying books to help me learn Korean (in Chinese, which I'm not the best at reading FYI), and me buying all his albums he came out with in Taiwan, Japan, AND Korea after that. That was pretty much the beginning of me being an easy target for drama merchandise. When I started watching My Name is Kim Sam Soon, I of course had to buy the Samshik pig. Then when My Girl came out and I fell in love with Lee Joon Ki, I searched for his cross earrings. A lot of people were selling cross earrings, but it was hard to find his pair. After bothering a bunch of my friends when they went back to Korea (since I've never been there), an oppa of mine bought me a number of different pairs that resembled LJK's :) I was so happy. Funny thing is, I didn't become Christian till afterwards, so wearing them before was out of pure...adoration of LJK? I don't know haha. Next on my wish list is the Pig Rabbit from You're Beautiful! :)

Enough rambling...I actually just stumbled upon this page because I was searching for footage of the A.N.JELL mini concerts to transition back to my normal and unexciting life after finishing You're Beautiful a few hours ago. So glad I did though! These stories have been so amusing and I had tons of fun writing about my history with dramas haha. Good luck to everyone in this contest!

After watching countless Jdrama's I recently began to watch Kdrama's such as You're beautiful. Though I am not Korean, nor do I speak the language (I watch subbed episodes) I must say they are quite entertaining. I think the most dramatic thing i've ever done in the 'name' of Kdrama's is stay up two days with cup ramen dressed looking like a computer-hacking psycho watching a particular kdrama that was 24 episodes. Now you're probably saying in your mind 24 episodes equate to 24 hours how is that two days? We're talking about the slowest computer on the face of the earth, and hey a girl's gotta eat.

- Carmen

My mom and I couldn't wait to find out how My Girl ended, so we watched for 8 hours straight, stopping only to make dinner.

Addiction? Not the right word.
Way of Life.
I'm from an ASIAN ASIAN family. Like Super Asian. My mom would always sit in front of the T.V. and watch Vietnamese Dubbed K-dramas that she borrowed from one of those old Asian video rental places. All About Eve, All-In, Did We Really Love?, 99percent of everything, Phoenix, Winter Sonata,... all the works. And of course... being the daughter I am, I would watch with her. I was always having a 1-2 hour session with her after dinner. I think I was maybe 5? I didn't really learn how to download and stream videos until 6 or 7 years old when I got my first computer.
During the time my mom and I were watching Winter Sonata, there was one day I had a sleep over and I missed two episodes. My mom wouldn't go back and let me watch so I was upset and thought maybe they would have something on the internet. It was 2004 and I was nine. It was then that I found Soompi. I joined under popo_chan_xo and I started using clubbox. And then... D-addicts and torrents came soon after that. At first, I was just doing so to catch up with my mom whenever I missed something. But then, I found it hard to stop, so I would pass her. And it was in English so it was easier to understand.
My first ever FAVORITE was I'm Sorry I Love You. I remember stalking the fansub group like crazy even though I was only 9. From then on, I kept on going. Watching and watching and watching. It was wayy harder back then. No viikii. 24 hours to download one torrent and a week for subtitles for an episode.
Now I'm 14 turning and it's my secret passion. Like my daily homework. Or actually nightly. I watch for hours at a time late into the night even on school days. Wake up early, sleep late. I read your blogs whenever I can because sometimes your recaps come out faster than the subs. I still like to download. But, not many dramas are being soft/hard subbed anymore. It's all Viikii now. I'm a little sad, but I appreciate Viikii a lot.
Well I don't find it bad or weird anymore. I used to think it wasn't normal, but now I'm just doing it by habit. First thing I do when I get on the internet is check for subs and I have incorporated the schedules for each drama into my daily schedule. I just love k-dramas and dramas in general.
That's the story. But the worst thing I've done to watch a drama is to skip school. I just started Iris (it was over already) and there were soo many episodes. My parents both work so I told them I had a REALLY REALLY bad headache so I could stay at home from school the next day to watch the rest of Iris. I forgot about time and I ended up finishing Iris and starting on Chuno and I was so into it I forgot about my parents. They got home caught me watching and banned me from the computer to watch dramas for a month for lying to them and to cure my weird obssession. But every night I would sneak out of bed at one in the morning and watch Chuno (already finished airing) and Cinderella Sister (was airing) on Viikii while they were sleeping. They never found out. :) That was recent. Before that: I would stay up really late to watch. Worst would be 4 in the morning on a school day. But usually I'd watch from the time I get out of school to 10pm-ish and not do my homework until the morning.

K-drama addiction is an understatement for me :)
haha

I have done so many things in the name of k-drama addiction that it would take me at least 2 days to explain, so I'll just stick to one anecdote from last year ^^

At the end of last year like most other people who were in the You're Beautiful craze, i was an obsessive follower of the drama! heck i even bought the pig rabbit on g-market after the drama finished airing.
lol
well at the end of last year I had an interview for my History extension assessment that went towards my marks for the HSC (the Australian equivalent to the US's SAT) on at 8:30am. in the morning but as the You're Beautiful finale was on the night before, I still streamed it live at 12am. in the morning and even after I finished watching it I logged right into livejournal to discuss my thoughts on the finale with all the other You're Beautiful fans. I finally ended up going to sleep at 6:00am in the morning, as expected I couldn't wake up the next morning.
I woke up at 10:30am the next day, obviously missing my interview appointment and seeing that the interview went towards my HSC, I had to think up a good excuse to not get penalized. Since I had slept so little (and I cried quite a bit in the finale of YAB) my eyes were naturally all puffed up and red, so when I did finally turn up to school I went straight to the teacher and cried and sobbed hysterically, saying that my sister had gone to the hospital as she had a nose bleed that would not stop and that I had stayed there with her all this time. My teacher was quite convinced and even comforted me and eventually he gave me an extension and allowed me to do it the next week.
So all thanks to k-dramas, I missed out on my interview which went towards my HSC but it also taught me the skills needed to cry and look helpless convincingly (Stairway to Heaven anyone? ;) )

Hello... here is my story :)

I was forced into buying the DVD set of Lovers in Paris which is the very first Korean Drama that I watched. I LOVED IT! I would go to sleep at 3AM and wake up at 5AM to get ready for work, and will be dozing off at work. One time I asked my supervisor if I can go home because I was having migraines.... I LIED!!!

Then I went online to find more Kdrama to watch and headed to the nearest Asian Video store to buy My Girl, Goong (Princess Hour), Summer Scent, Stairway to Heaven, Winter Sonata. Then headed home to start on them, boy was I soooo disappointed from the subtitles but still I can't help it, I still watched every single one of them even if the subtitles sucked. Since I was not that satisfied, I went online to find websites where I can download Kdramas. I learned how to download and transfer them to DVD :) I googled HOW TO's so I can have my own collection with great subtitles. I subscribed to megaupload for faster downloads so I can watch the whole series without interruptions. YUP no interruptions, I finished one series with 16 episodes straight without sleeping! only bathroom breaks and eating, and I thanked my wonderful husband for taking care of the kids that weekend, I haven't done that since then. I felt so guilty at that time. But I still haven't stopped downloading, since transferring the Kdramas to DVD takes a lot of time, my ever wonderful husband bought me an external hard-drive to keep my collection which I loaded pretty quickly (that's a 1-terra byte external hard drive, whew! I only have a few giga bytes left in that one. He bought me another 1.5 terra byte to fill... hahahaha).

One of the saddest Korean drama I watched was Autumn in my Heart/ Autumn Tale, my husband saw me crying while watching so he came back and handed me a bath towel :D Then the next day my oldest son saw me crying again with the same series, this time he handed me a beach towel!!! Those GUYS, they would tease me whenever they see me watching my Kdramas, they said that the beach towel is the biggest they can find.

I also hooked one of my co-workers to watch Lovers in Paris and until now she's hooked and got her niece to download for her. Then finally she bought her own computer and learned how to download Kdrama on her own and would tell me what she watched and recommend which ones she liked and I too would recommend to her what I watched and liked. I got another friend hooked on Kdrama, I lent her Lovers in Paris too. What made this experience special is how my friend got her Canadian husband to watch Lovers in Paris :D. They were hilarious because my friend thought she lost one of the DVD's I loaned her, then she found her husband in their room watching Lovers in Paris! My friend had to tell her husband to stop watching and continue the next day for the next episode but he end up sleeping at 3AM to finish the series. My friend is as hooked as I am, she bought her own laptop and would go online to watch the Kdramas she likes.

Then I started to listen to Korean music, funny thing is I don't understand the words but I like listening to the original sound tracks of some of the series I watch, put the songs in my ipod and listen to them at work and enjoy it. I understand some words but I still need to learn A LOT. I am really interested to learn the Korean language but I don't know where to start, I went online and found some websites but the Korean language is hard to learn :( or is it just me. Can anyone recommend something so I can learn please? My brother has the Rosetta Stone so I will beg him to give it to me :D ... Today we went to watch Toy Story 3 and the family behind us are Koreans, I was listening intently to their conversations, well I just picked out a few words here and there but did not know what they were talking about :( .... any tutors available :D

I started going to Korean restaurants and eat yummy foods too. I also found a Korean supermarket in our area and get my kimchi and other good stuff there, the best part in the supermarket, they have marinated Korean meat ready for barbeque. So I also bought the barbeque grill plate and a portable stove which can also be used on the regular stove just turn on your fan, open the windows and use an electric fan to blow the smoke away from the smoke detector in your house :( I learned the hard way in my excitement to use my new Korean grill plate. The alarm started to scream so my son and I had to scamper and find the electric fan, open all the windows and doors and I have to stand on a chair right below the smoke alarm with a cardboard and start fanning away the smoke until it finally stopped!

If I had known 3 years ago that I will get this crazy about Korean dramas and about Korea, I would have said "YES" in a heartbeat when my husband asked me if I wanted to go to Korea for his next duty station. DARN!!! That would have been a 1-3 years tour of Korea. DARN!!! Well maybe we can try again :D

One of the added list in my bucket list....... GO VISIT KOREA.

Dramabeans is my daily dose :) I come here everyday to read. I love this website, it's kind of an addiction, hahahaha... Thank you Javabeans for this site, I truly enjoy coming here. I love reading what the others have shared. It will take me days to finish them all. I might just copy and paste them all then read every now and then and have a wonderful laugh. Thank you to those who already shared stories, it took me HOURS to finish mine because I got distracted reading some of your stories.

I've truly enjoyed reading the stories!

For me, it all started with my parents sharing their vacation to Korea. At first, I couldn't believe that they were so in love with everything (the food, culture and kdrama). I had heard of it but never took the time to really watch the dramas. For years our family has watched jdramas but now, all my parents were watching was kdramas.

It began the moment I watched episode 1 of Shining Inheritance (it was by chance I watched it - it was only because it was what my parents were watching after dinner one night). From that hour I was HOOKED...it has almost been a year and I can't believe what a change in lifestyle it has been for me.

Since that hour, I have basically stopped watching all American programming and have switched to 100% Korean. I like to watch it online and on DVD since waiting for episodes on TV is excruciating! I watch it when I get ready in the morning, on my lunch break, when I am waiting in the car (hey, 10 minutes is 10 minutes!!), when I get home, while cooking and every night. I try to get in a good 3-8 hours a day. I know it is a really exceptional drama when I have been so engrossed in a show that I've been surprised by the sunrise after staying up all night! At that point, I always wonder if I should try to get some sleep or just keep watching??

Like most people, the dramas have led to listening to the music which I now listen to most of the time. Thank goodness for CDs and iPods, I have access to it all the time. I try to listen to the radio once in a while so I don't lose touch of what is popular at the moment but in no time, I find myself back to kpop!

I keep track of my dramas on a spreadsheet, what I've watched, rated by how I liked them along with my favorite actors/actresses and also list what I have yet to see. I often share this list with people who are also interested in kdramas, especially when they ask about which ones I liked.

I have borrowed DVDs from friends, my mother's friends and even our public library (they have over 100 kdramas which you can rent for $1 but have to return in 7 days - makes for efficient viewing since I have to return it) or watch it online.

Through our local kdrama station, I have been able to see Park Yong-Ha in concert (loved it!) and have gotten a copy of the movie Daisy which is signed by Jung Woo Sung (looking forward to Athena!).

I'm currently trying to find a good place to learn the Korean language, it would be so nice to not have to constantly read the subtitles! And I'm hoping to visit Korea one day soon. Korean food is part of the culture here so I've grown up with some of it but I didn't realize that what I have been exposed to is just the tip of the iceberg! I'm hoping to expand my horizons in this area too!

I've found that watching these dramas has added so much happiness into my life-- only people who watch them can really understand the joy you get (glad I'm part of the club!)...

I'm looking forward to watching many, many more kdramas and reading your blog everyday has helped make it all the more enjoyable!

Thanks!

Good question JB,,, What have i done????

My first kdrama is Stairway to Heaven. I got hooked watching the filipino-subbed version aired in the local channel from Mondays to Fridays. I had laser-eye surgery to correct my impaired vision. As part of my post operation medication, I had to put artificial tears every half an hour. Well, I did a Stairway to Heaven marathon that weekend and needless to say, I have no need of the artificial tears.

My second addiction and probably what I am still most addicted to is My Name is Kim Sam Soon... I have a vcd package, dvd9 package, a veoh-downloaded complete set in my laptop and an order with my regular dvd seller for a filipino-subbed one. I discovered MNIKSS when it was shown in the local channel. Then I got so hooked I was no longer satisfied with the nightly one episode airing. So I got my first box set. But watching the whole thing didnt stop me from watching the filipino-subbed one because aside from the story, I became interested how they will translate Sam Soon's great words and dialogues in FIlipino... So here comes the craziness... I have a project in the province, a very beautiful province. When we got there, our hosts invited my team to go out at night... which i begged off pretending to have a headache because MNIKSS is on.. It was about 9PM when i got dropped off in the hotel and i ran - like my life depended on it because MNIKK is on at 9PM. I think i scared the night receptionist of the hotel. my kdrama friend who was also in the same project but in a different province was sending me panic text messages because they were still at dinner and she was afraid she wont catch the show... hahaha,
Another MNIKSS story.... another province project. We rode a ship to get to the far flung island province. My team was billeted in a cabin but sadly no tv.. OH NO!!! I went around the ship looking for a TV. A found one in a restaurant and I was convincing the bar tended to put it on tv mode instead of the dvd mode. That horribly bad guy refused saying there is no TV signal in the boat. Using my cellphone, I called my friend in Manila and begged him to put his phone next to the TV airing MNIKSS. But my very talkative friend didn't do as told and instead gave me a blow by blow account of what is showing on tv.. remember I have seen all this before and I'm more interested in the translation. So after 10 minutes and not having the heart to ask him to shut up, I said goodbye feigning a bad signal. So in a state of panic, I finally found a tv in the common area. The common area is full of double decked beds and this is the accommodation for those without cabins. So crazy me, trespassed in the common area to watch MNIKSS.
Another story, not crazy but heartwarming. You see, I am not the only one addicted to MNIKSS... so is my mom. some years ago, she got sick and was hospitalized. It was a dark moment in our lives. I took a leave at work to stay with her in the hospital. Doctors couldn't tell us what was wrong with her. She was getting weaker because one of her doctors put her on a liquid diet and my normally happy mother is getting more depressed as we stay in the hospital. I've read somewhere that laughter is the best medicine. So, to cheer her up in the hospital, I brought my portable dvd and connected it to the hospital tv. we watched MNIKSS together. Then she started to smile, then laugh again. On the same week-end, MNIKSS rerun is scheduled to start. She was excited for that. I am glad that something is getting her mind off her sickness. It was funny coz the rerun was scheduled for 9AM. She had a visitor who arrived at 8:30 AM... hahaha, we have to hurry the nice visitor so we can watch the 9AM rerun.... One week later, she was was discharged from the hospital. I have no illusions that Kim Sun Ah cured her... that's just weird.. But I think the ability to laugh again gave her the strength to fight her sickness. For that I am thankful for the laughters MNIKSS brought to our lives. It has been 4 years and my mom is okay, happy and active again. Since MNIKSS, we have enjoyed many more kdramas together including Coffee Prince, Love Story in Harvard, Jewel in the Palace, Jumong, The Legend, Yellow Handkerchief (her favorite), My Husband's Woman and now Queen Seon Deok. Oh yeah, and she have gotten used to me calling her Omma!

My first craving for Korean Drama was when i watched IRENE aka "Miss Mermaid" at our local TV station (Philippines). I never knew then, that it will be the start of a brand new addiction for me. Imagine, I always save money, just to be able to rent a computer to look for a detailed synopsis, pictures and trivia's of my favorite drama and artists, and to make it even worst, ill always make it sure that i should have a printed out of such artists and drama, for me to make it as a souvenir (at that time i"m still a college student, so spending money is a no no, for a student like me). But nevertheless, craving for something that i really want makes me the happiest person in the world.
NO one can ever give me those laughter, tears, satisfaction and a roller coaster of emotions wherever i watched kdrama. So what do you expect, of course if something can give you such kind emotions, you will continue and crave for more (kdrama) again and again...With this, i m very thankful that i've got to know that in a very far away place there's a bunch of Drama that will touched my emotions endlessly...

My addidtion ~ Goong(past) and You're Beautiful(now)!

♥ Things i have done... so far

♥ Finally converted my husband to watch You're Beautiful and now he's addicted to K-drama so he's going to watch Goong next! Hehe MY ARMY IS GROWING :D
♥ Joined various mailing lists to keep myself updated on what's happening. Yours truly is the best site I've seen so far! Keep it up XD
♥ Trawl the internet to watch You're Beautiful just because I want to catch the series before the TV station airs it. And IT WAS AWESOME... so I finished the entire serial a week before and had a marathon session just to watch the last five episode.
♥ Almost wanted to scream in a Video store when I found out I had missed the chance to buy the limited edition DVD set of YAB, all 6 months too late? *is sad*
♥ The songs from my favorite group BSB have officially been outplayed by YAB's OST. They no longer rule my iTunes becos songs from YAB have been on repeated mode for the last many weeks. Current count ~ 117 to 0 (LOL cos i reformatted the computer and that IS the stand now!)
♥ I had bought materials to make the Tofu man from Goong, but never got down to doing it. In the end, Kinokouniya brought it in and I bought it instead. Now it is lying outside the hall, watching TV :D
♥ I must have my Korean food whenever I can get my hands on it. It makes me feel Korean even if I am a Chinese heheh NAH... it's just cos Korean food is the best selection in the food court!
♥ I just remembered I wore the Hanbok when I took my wedding shots. Woo!
♥ ... ok i got sidetracked. I recently bought the YAB's comic books. And all in Korean, which I have no idea what is it all about - I read only English and Mandarin. Still I bought it bcos the pictures inside make me :P~~~~~~~~~~~~~~! Yes, they are screencaps of the serial but now I can just flip open the book and stare at it all day w/o having to fiddle with the DVD. You know, they say a picture is worth a thousand (Korean) words.
♥ I cut my hair to the style of Go Mi-Nam and my husband has since asked me to call him Hyung Nim, even after I told him for the millionth time, I should be calling him Oppa. He says he likes the idea of having a gal who pretend to be a boy. I think it's just an excuse cos i think he likes to be called Hyung-Nim instead of Oppa. (is regretting to get him to share my K addiction LOL)
♥ He even got me a similar hairclip which HTK gave Mi-Nam so that I can use it (OMG I think he is more mad than me!!!!!!!!)
♥ But he is still the sweetest guy I know cos he got me my very own "Limited Edition HTK package" - inside are all stuff featuring Hwang Tae-Kyung. And this is on top of the YAB comic books he shared with me. All these for my birthday! This should be my most indulgent gift from him so far (thus further fuel my K-drama addiction)

♥ Things I have yet to do

♥ To open the "Learn Korean for beginners" pack from my friends. Again this gift was prompted by my husband cos he knows I want to pick up the language for the dramas and songs -o-
♥ GO KOREA AND BE ONE OF THEM :D

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I really have this funny story on how I've begun my drama addiction. Just like all Filipino's, it begun with Meteor Garden ( F4 Fever...heheheh..love Dao Ming Shi )..We are were in Cebu and was preparing for our Board Exam ( Mechanical Engg)..every second and every minute we are just reading and reviewing for the upcoming exams..but...here come's Meteor Garden around 4:30pm and all of us, mind you including the boys will hooked-up in our 14'' TV,which is by the way brought from our province ( Negros ) to Cebu just to watch Meteor Garden...heheh..then, one day, some of my male classmates does not have a chair to sit down,what they did, they brought the Folding Bed of my fellow classmate in front of the TV and 5 of them sit in it..and TADA...the bed fell down flat on the floor..hahhaha..the owner of the bed was so angry..hahhaha...they have to replace it with a new one...

That starts my addiction with any Taiwanese and Korean Drama..After Meteor Garden, there comes the Full House which I've watched together with my BF ( now my husband ) every time we have no work..We even memorize the tagalog version of "Mama Bear and Papa Bear"..hahaha...And then the Stairway to heaven which makes me cry...and then, I was hooked up again with Autumn in my Heart because of Song Hye Go...

When my husband left for Saudi Arabia and I was forced to resign from my Job because of my baby, then, I've started my buying spree for DVD...I even included it in my monthly budget..hahhaha..I told my husband "it's for my personal happiness"...so you see, he can't complain anymore...I'm watching this every night until 5:am that my auntie, who sleeps with me and my baby in the same room will complain the next day that she cannot sleep peacefully..hahhaha..

Now, we are here in Jeddah,my daughter is 3 years old now..so in my claculation, I've been an addict for almost 4 - 5 years already..my husband sometime complain about my addiction but what can he do, this is my "Happiness", my "Stress Reliever"..I'm still so addicted that I am glued in my laptop until 2:00am in the morning just to re-watch and re-watch "My Country Calls"...even in raw..hahhaha...And I still have to wake up 6am in the morning to send my daughter to the nanny and for me to go to the office at 8am...

But, I'm so relieved reading this post..meaning I'm not alone in this world...We Exist!!!!!!Keep up Drama Addicts....

I've been a kdrama fanatic since the days of Glass Slipper... oh So Ji Sub, bless your soul! The drama was dubbed and of course, on VHS tapes that my mum would rent.

Fast forward a couple of years and everyone's streaming it on the internet, downloading it and subbing it; that's when I mastered the art of downloading kdramas and pairing them up with subtitles (the dramas are so much better than the dubbed versions)! My laptop at the time only had a CD burner so to preserve these massive video files that I downloaded and to keep them for a rainy day (and of course, share among friends and get them hooked too), I'd burn them onto discs which resulted in stacks and stacks of CD's. 700mb an episode, 700mb disc capacity, an average drama of 16 episodes equates to 16 discs, I'd be watching at least 4 dramas at the one time, 16 times 4 equals 64 discs, another new drama starts, more burning and so on. >. CD! Light bulb moment, why don't I cram all my CDs onto DVDs using the burner at college?! Huh huh?! That'd eliminate the piles of CDs I have and conveniently, my drama would be reduced to 3 discs as opposed to 16! So that's what I did during ALL my classes, transfer the video files from CD onto PC, then burn them onto DVD. (Oh what a crazy nutter I was back then, but hey, it worked a treat!) So now, the dramas are all on DVD and the CD's can be discarded, hooray!

As for the dramas that were still on my laptop, I'd transfer each episode, one by one, day by day, onto my measly USB stick of 1gb and place them on my computer at college. Once there were enough episodes to burn onto a DVD, I would do so and the process would start again. The worse part is yet to come! Cause I could only transfer ONE episode onto the USB per day, it took forever to fill up a disc, so I tried to speed up the process by going home at lunch, transfer another episode onto the USB stick and then head back into class. See? Doubly fast. Hahahah! Dedication, right there.

I still have those discs stashed away in my DVD folder and am now the go to girl for korean dramas.

Oh, one more story! How could I forget!

During my viewing of BOF, I was to fly back home and visit the parentals and friends for a visit as I had not seen them for months. The thing was, I was so engrossed into the drama that during my brief visit, I failed on so many accounts to see anyone or go anywhere. I was literally locked in my room with my laptop for the entire weekend. F4 got me, they got me good. :)

hmmm... i have read all story here, they're really funny and that's the proof that I'm not the only one that crazy over Korean drama.
i watch korean drama since 2000 i guess, i'm not really remember, but i still remember the first k-drama i watch, Endless Love or Autumn Tale played by Song Hye Kyo and since that time in love with k-drama but still in normal way. i just watch if one of my country tv station play korean drama. but now i think someone really need to help me because i'm too way crazy with k-drama. and that's because coffee prince. and the lovely one GONG YOO :).
actually i was late watch CP. I give up watch tv because drama in my country, we call it "Sinetron" really make me sick with the story especially with the shot. and that's why i really don't know what in tv at that time, about in 2007. and one night, I decided to turn on my tv, and see what happen after so long left my TV. and CP play at that time. first episode.
at that time, i feel like ok, i will watch it cause it's k-drama, not sinetron. so i watch it. at the first look, CP is fine. like k-drama as usual. but i don't know why at that time I don't really like Han Kyol. at my mind, " Who's that old man?" Haha, i feel shame if i remember what i said.
and then I watch the CP again next day, and I found my favorite scene. Han Seong and Yoo Joo in studio, listening the Tearliner-Novaless song. that's the time i decided to buy the dvd. and actually i'm not a tv person and i can't stand to wait for the next episode, so dvd is the best solution.
that's the first k-drama dvd i bought. i watch it in one night and proud to say that i'm in LOVE SO VERY VERY MUCH with COFFEE PRINCE AND CHOI HAN KYEOL aka GONG YOO OPPA. HAHAHAHA...
since then, i keep watch it even now, when i write this comment, and i think until i die. haha. i've told you it's like a drug to me. even i almost remember all the scene with what the cast wear, what they say, where's the place, etc. i keep watch it. and CP is the thing that makes me interest with k-drama.
i learn hanguk mareul because i want to know how to write gong yoo name (공유, yes i can write it now), haha. stupid. i also want to know how to read the title of CP (커피프린스). i feel like crazy person. i don't know. CP is the best for me.
watch CP not like watch drama but watch a reality show of eun chan, han kyeol, han seong and yoo joo and the coffee prince. even the things in coffee prince shop like real. like they're really work there. the acting is so great. like i've said i don't know gong yoo and i don't really like eun hye even though i've watch her Goong, but in CP, i really have to change my mind. they're the best couple in k-drama ever. they acted really natural. we really can see the suffer han kyeol and the dilemma eun chan, and how lovely and cute they are. oh God, i love CP so much...
and don't forget the soundtrack. i'm sure javabeans also agree with me cause she made the CP ost list. the soundtrack is the best. not like other K-drama that use a classic song, a very beautiful song, but CP like an indie movie. they use more band song, and all the song is really really great. especially Tearliner - Novaless. The best song ever.
God, I think i will never over CP.
I watch it everyday for this two years, i even watch it if the tv replay it. i save all the CP recaps that JB made, i download all the ost from JB CP ost list, and the CP novel recaps that JB made, and i will download the novel if my internet back to normal speed. i even download CP behind the scene in youtube. but i still feel not really a fans of CP cause the dvd i have is a bootleg dvd. but i promise, if one day i can afford to buy the original dvd, i will buy it. i promise with my solemn heart.
CP really introduce me with korea. I learn the languange and how to write and read it. also because of CP i found site like dramabeans, my soju, etc to help my lack of k-drama. from there i know the good and the bad of k-drama, the actors and actresses, and all about k-entertainment. i even wish to live in korea. haha.
now every month i always save money to buy k-drama dvd. like a crazy i always buy almost ten dvd every month and watch every episode in one day marathon. CP really make me crazy over k-drama. but sadly i always compare all k-drama with CP. and the result always CP the best. Haha.
but my really big thanks to CP is to introduce me with GY. a long time ago, I've watch Biscuit Teacher, but i don't really know him so i don't really care about GY. but after watch CP, I know his a great actor. well not all drama and movie he played good, but in CP he prove him self as an actor. and i really in love with him. can't wait to see his next project. two years waiting for him was so a long time. his last photo shoot for Cosmo so adorable. he's so hot..., haha.
well i guess that's my story. maybe it's more right if i call it "A Thanks to Coffee Prince".
thank you JB and GF. it's so nice to see you, keep up the good work :)

i started loving korean drama's when i was only 12 years old the first k-drama that i've watch is endless love autumn. i really like song hye kyo because of her acting then after that i started to love korean dramas i watched many many korean dramas, witch yoo hee, full house, goong, vineyard man, my girl, sassy girl, stairway to heaven, endless love season dramas, and many more. i was also addicted to kpops and kmovies. acctually im a admin in a public page in face book ( i ♥ Kpop, Kdrama, Kmovie, Korean actors but i am not KOREAN:) ) it has 4,442 fans now. i really love k-dramas i even called a korean addict. i always fought with my mom because of this addiction she even said that i should live in korea, haha. i cant sleep when the drama that i had watched had ended tragically like queen seon deok and IRIS. i even spend my school time to watch a kdrama. sometimes im not sleeping because of this addiction. i was addicted on these shows : BOF, YB, Goong, Fullhouse, Smile you, Shining Inheritance,Queen Seon deok, Personal Taste, Cinderella's Sister, Oh my Lady, My Prosecutor Princess and now im watching Bad guy and Baker Kim tak goo.
when i got addicted to Bof? - i repeated watching it for almost 10 times.
in YB i really adored Jang geun suk.
QSD-- i really love BIDAM!! :D. haha. and now im still updating my self to IRIS 2.

i really love hangkuk dramas! 4 ever

oh almost forgot about the korean wave happen in my family.
i always watch CP everyday, the dvd i bought, and sing the korean drama ost . also check if there any new drama. everyday i look like drowning in korean. and my dad doesn't really like. he's a director in my country and he seems mad if i compare sinetron with k-drama. and honestly my dad's sinetron not good either. sorry dad. just trying to be honest.
and then to respect my dad, i just watch the dvd in my room. but sadly some tv station in my country play some k-drama. in one day i can watch over 3 or 4 different drama. watching this, my dad always questioning about my nationality. haha, i still love my country but my love to k-drama quite bigger, hehe :p
but i try to make my self normal with this kind of addict. cause i'm working so i only watch CP every night and some random episode from random drama until i get to sleep. just sing the song from the ost every morning before i go to work and just watch drama that play in tv if i'm off to work. it's to respect my dad and my nationality.
thanks god my mom fine with my addiction. she even watch the drama with me and my sis who also in love with k-drama especially BBF and YAB. my mom even like east of eden ost, haha. it's just my dad that still seem anti k-drama until one day he got his wake up call of k-drama, haha.
one day queen of seondeok play in one station. actually i'm not a big fan of sageuk drama. but because i love the yurijan song and my sis love this drama so i give it a chance. and my dad also watch it. i think he's curious why his two daughter love this k-drama things. and he found the answer. and agree with us. haha. you got that, dad.
i'm quite shock when i watched him watching On Air, Iljimae, Jumong, and some drama that play in tv. he even watch some k-drama that i don't watch like surgeon bong dal hae and he even introduce me with Painter of The WInd. Ha. he's the master of k-drama now. He also in love with SG Wannabe-Fate Reverse for EOE video clip. He adore k-drama cause the producer give the writer right in every drama production. the camera they used, and all the things that he found why k-drama has so many fans all around the world. it's not only because the actor and actresses but the drama is have a different value than any drama in any country.
now what i heard from him is, "I think there's a new k-drama play in tv."
Haha. Ok, now my family got korean wave and no one can save me from my k-drama addiction. great!

Oh my, some of the stories really gave me a good laugh! Mine is not as close to become as good, but it's crazy how Korean dramas literally made me the person I am today hahah. Anyways a few years ago I've started to watch K-drama with Dae Jang Geum and Full House, i liked them, but i was not crazy either. So one day out of boredom, I asked a friend who was a k-drama addict to give me a few suggestions, and she told me that i should definitly watch Goong. So I went to a streaming website and start to watch it, not knowing that it'll still be part of my life until this day. I was so captivated by that drama, and I was fangirling hardcore, but the only person I could talk to at the time was my then-boyfriend, who was not so interested. So I kept it to myself and never really talk about it to other people. A year went by, and I was sitting in summer course with a few friends from highchool. We knew each other from HS, but we weren't really that close. I don't remember how it all started, but one day, during lunch break we were discussing about men of different nationality and how they treat women, and the conversation shifted to K-drama male lead. Something just clicked, and I discovered that they were k-drama lovers too, and somehow we were all crazy about Goong. Before we knew it, we were soooo into our discution that we've started to "cast" ourselves. Since that day, I became Shin Goon, friend #2 became Yul Goon, friend #3 became the Queen+Hyo Rin, friend #4 becam Yul's mom. So since then, when we talk to each other, it goes like this "Ya Shin goon, that throne is mine!" "Shut up Yul, you took the blame for your mom and went in exile" I would causally refer to them as their "role", even in real life. We're like sisters now, and we go by the name of the "Royal Family". It's funny how we always interpret events in real life as things that happened in the drama xD Even until this day, as 3rd year Uni students, we still live in our own world when we're together. This year, for my birthday, they even went to the Build-a-bear store and created an Alfred bear for me hahaha.

Now everytime that there's a new drama around, we look for the "potential" of a casting, and we just start to cast ourselves LOL So far we've done BOF, You're beautiful, and some Japanese and Chinese dramas. Heck we even cast ourselves as Super Junior LOL It's funny how over time, we've started to typecast too. I would always be the main lead and the tallest guy (ironic since i'm like the shortest), the one who was Yul is always 2nd lead, and so on. For the past few months i've been refered to as Hyungnim since I was Tae Kyung haha. Our interaction which each other also reflects our characters in respective drama. I would bicker (playfully) with one, be sickening sweet with another. You see the point. Sometimes we even try to find the clothes or accessories that the characters have. One of my friend was "casted" as Mi Nam, and when she cut her hair short, we just have to force her to get a bow hair pin XD

So that's how k-dramas have forged the friendship that we have. <3 (and it'll possibly lead us to suffer multiple personality disorder but that's another story!)

Oh and I forgot that we were really into BOF too. There was a really nice girl who would translate and hardsub the episodes really quickly. Sometimes by monday-tuesday night in my timezone, the episodes was already subbed and ready to download. On of my friend and I would just stalk the girl's blog, and once it's out we texted each other to keep ourselves updated. We would be the first one to watch it in our group. The next day the others would call and we would discuss about what "our character" did and we take it really personally LOL. I remeber since i "was" Goo Jun Pyo, my friend would always tease about the fact that i was always half naked haha. And in one of the later episode, when Woo Bin went to the sauna with Jun Pyo, I quickly called the friend who was Woo Bin and just laugh at her. It was our routine for 3 months, good old time! Now when we talk to each other, we sometimes refer ourself to the gender of the character and not our real gender. It's pretty confusing for the people who happens to stumble across our conversation. Sometime it's just really easy to misunderstand. One day one of my friend, refering to something "her" character did in one of the drama told us in the middle of the mall "it's not a sin to kiss someone!" and it earned us surprised looks from the guys that were in front of us hahah.

Also, I did the stupidest thing that a girl on vacation would do: i brought my laptop filled with dramas while i went to France for a month. I was with my cousin (who is a guy btw) and i got him into boys over flowers. So for the whole week that we were in Nice, we just spend our time watching BOF (the worst is that I've seen it like 3 times already). Now I kinda regret it, but it was fun fangirling with a guy!

Stories just seem to be popping out of my mind, and I'm sorry that you have to listen to me again xD

For all of You're beautiful lovers, Shayne Ward's song Breathless certainly hold a special place in your heart. Last week it was my cousin's wedding, and for the first dance, they chose to open with that song. When the MC announced that the newly wed would be dancing to "a Shayne Ward's song", the name did ring a bell, but it didn't really click. Until one of my cousin poked me and laugh while giving me a look that said "do-you-realize-what-it-means?", then the song started. Then our table (which consisted of all the cousins, we're all 16-20 ish) just erupted in laugher and we just had to start the Hwang Tae Kyung wave. I think that we kinda ruin the magical moment, but it was just irresistable LOL And all the other tables were like "WTF??", so was the groom who wasn't Asian. Of course the bride has noticed us (who wouldn't notice a whole table doing the Hwang Tae Kyung's wave??) and she couldn't resist and just laugh so hard during the dance that she had to burry her face into her husband's shoulder to hide it. Other people may think that they were just being overly affectionate, but we knew better xD

I cant count the number of nights were I stayed up all night just to finish watching a certain series, however took it to the extreme when watching What's up fox,(think it was the fact that the lovely guy from Cinderella sister spoke Spanish and I developed a giant crush immediately)which meant I had to watch pretty much anything with him in it,

I spend the whole night trying to watch the entire series despite having to work very early the next day...only to work during the day so tired and have people asking me if I was sick then finally getting home and instead of getting to bed early proceeded to finish the series..Let's just say the next day I was a zombie at work (it was totally worth it though)

I also always laugh like a loon when anything reminds me about any series or anyone says anything similar- everyone thinks am crazy since I don't know anyone who watches K-drama (apart from my family) so they don't understand. I am right know considering getting one of my friends hooked just so that we can talk about k-dramas....I am just thinking which series would be the best to start her on.. muah muah muah ha ha ..spreading the addiction.

I also wonder why I cant find a guy that is a cool, cute and dorky like LMH.

So if anyone has any ideas on what is the best K-drama to start a newbie on let me know..am thinking maybe coffee Prince.

So while I haven't done anything extremely crazy like fly out to korea and become a crazy fan that stalks idols. I have continuously lost sleep because my drama addiction. I finished You're Beautiful in 3 days (I had school too) and I was sleep deprived to the point where I found myself doodling mini Hwang Tae Kyung's in my notebooks in my half dazed state. HAhahaha. Of course, after I finished the series I replayed every Go Mi Nam and Hwang Tae Kyung lovey dovey moment and squee'd like crazy. Yeah... my friends think I don't have a life but it's okay. xDD

Anyhow, I originally didn't plan on entering just because it seems like everyone's pulled the occasional all nighter for a drama (or spent the night tossing and turning while waiting for the next episode of Personal Taste to release because Vikkii was too laggy for the translators). But seeing as there's A.N.J.E.L.L paraphernalia up for grabs, I couldn't resist

thanks for reading <3

Talk about addiction of K-drama. It all started in 2006 when I started downloading K-dramas and watched it with English subtitles (I guess about the same time WITH S2 started). Before that I watched K-drama dubbed in Vietnamese. But since I started downloading them, I would take time and converted them into DVD so I have keepsakes and can watch them on DVD's whenever I want to. The process of converting 4 K-drama episodes into 1 DVD is gruesome. It takes about 5 hours to convert each episode, and then 1 hour to do the graphic (for menu selection) and to author all episodes into a DVD. Therefore, a 16 episode drama (4 DVD's) would take me about literally 80-85 hours of computer run time and effort. The longest series was Jumong (took me more than 20 DVD's), and I finished that one also. Yes, call me crazy and addict, but I love every single minute and disc. And I also have DVD labels for each disc. My family and friends thought I was crazy, I thought I was crazy too sometimes. But I was so into it and the next thing I know, I have about 1000 Discs currently. Now the problem is, where am I storing all these DVD's? LOL

I am so hooked on YB!! watched it 6 times and still counting. skipped lunches at work for like 2 wks to stay in and watch videos on You Tube on JGS and any news on him!! The OST has been playing in my ipod for the past 5wks..... And of cos , sooo smitten with JGS!! Went to buy Beethoven Virus and Baby and Me dvds after getting hooked on JGS!! He's on my office PC wallpaper and on the home screen of my mobile!! Best part is, think so much abt him that he appeared during my tarot cards reading session!!! hahaha!!! ; ) I "hear" JGS!!!

It was Monday, March 30, 2009. My best friend Jessie's parents were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary the next day. Family and friends had flown in from across the country to attend this surprise party that was in plans for months.
After a gruelling 12 hour shift and long drive, I arrived Jessie's apartment at 900 pm with an empty stomach, a dirty uniform, my laptop and a change of clothes.

At 1100pm, after helping decorate 100 mini cupcakes, I headed to my room, exhausted, ready to get some sleep. I was excited for the next day. Let me explain: it was Boys over flowers' final episode.

I unpacked my things and started my preparations for next day:
Clothes all ready to go ... check
Cell phone on charge ... check
Lap top battery on charge, in case of power outage, wait.......
Where is the charger?
I rummaged through my belongings, looking for the battery charger that I had forgotten to bring with me.
OH NOOOO

What to do? My friend's computer was from the 18th century. You were lucky if you could check your email on it, let alone watch bof series finale... live.
Think think think.... perhaps my battery was fully charged.

NOOOOOOOO it wasn't. We were playing music on it earlier while I was helping to decorate those 100 million stupid little cupcakes that no one would eat cuz' the icing was too sweet and the cakes were slightly burned.
Drastic times call for drastic measures. I had to drive back home, get my charger, drive back before my friend found out.

My bff is not a drama watcher and has actively tried to end my addiction through countless interventions. I needed an alibi and one large coffee to make my dream of watching BOF finale live come true. I told my friend that I was headed to the store to get some personal stuff. Upon further insistence, I said I need tampons that he doesn't have. Mention of the T word shut him up for good.

At 1130pm , I got in my car, dirty uniform still on, headed to the nearest gas station to fill up the tank and grab a large cup of coffee to help with the 3 hour drive I was about to embark on. I raced on the highway like a mad woman, reached my home in an hour, grabbed the charger, and was on my way back. I was going to be back at his place in no time.

All of a sudden, there were sirens and a flashy car coming racing after me. I stopped in the middle of the highway. The sirens and flashes continued as a man approached my vehicle.
"Madam, do you know how fast you were going?"
"Oh hello Mr. osifer, I think I was going a bit fast."
That was an understatement considering I was driving 140km/h in an 80km/h zone.
He looked at me and asked where I was headed.
"To work. I am late for a shift."
I flashed him a smile as he looked at my scrubs.
"Well, we would all like to get there in one piece. Please slow down and next time, don't stop in the middle of the highway. Pull over to the right side".

Phew!
No ticket. I was on my way back to Jessie's apartment, driving 60 km/h even in 100 km/h zones. I was done taking chances were tonight.
At 230am, holding my charger, I unlocked the front door to his place. As I walked in, half asleep, I found the lights were still on in the living room.

"What a sweet heart", I thought, "he left the lights on for me".

As I looked down, Jessie was sitting on the floor busy stuffing the mini cupcakes into individual wrappers, to be handed out as party favours.

"Your parents called. They said you left the garage door open", he said without even looking up at me.
"Huh? But I never opened the door".

Oh just my luck! I had accidently hit the door opener while adjusting my hair in the mirror that is located on that pull down shade thingy that the door opener also clips onto.

Stupid cupcakes. If only there were no cupcakes to decorate, I would've never played music on my laptop. If only I had played no music, my battery would still be charged. I wouldn't have had to make a 3 hour trip, wake up my parents, lie to a police ossifer and make my bff mad for days.
But hey, I watched BOF, series finale, LIVE!
Only to be thoroughly disappointed in a non-ending ending. I mean, what kinda stupid ending was that?

1. Once I was watching this really good drama last year, and I had found it like 2 days before my math exam date. After watching episode 1... I thought it was interesting, but I just left it for that day. Then the next day when I needed some rest from studying, I watched episode 2... thats when things went crazy. I couldn't stop watching it! I freaking watched from episode 2 all the way to episode 14 on that same dang night!!!! =|. I even tried to stop to study a little, but I couldn't... I HAD to know what was going to happen in the drama! I ended up sleeping at 5AM and was half an hour late for the exam. I didn't even have time to finish the last page. LOOOOOL. Good times. :) (not)

2. I always fan girl when theres a really good looking guy as the main lead. If one of my friends is sitting next to me, I scream, I shake their shoulders and tell them all about him and say how he's so handsome... even if the person next to me doesn't even know any Korean idols. -_- LOL (my friends think i'm crazy)

3. I watched a 28 episode drama non stop...until my eyes couldn't look at the computer screen anymore. I watched from episode 1 to episode 21. :D

4. I'm taking Korean classes just to start watching dramas RAW cuz I can't wait for subs. LMAOOO.

5. Once, when there was a really good drama being aired, my computer freaking broke down and it was on the day of the final episode. I couldn't wait, so I just ran to the nearest public library and watched it there. :D

love reading all the posts and knowing that what I've experienced being a K-drama addict were all just 'normal' among us.....I've first learned about kdramas when one night I went to a Aunt's house and saw my 3 Aunts and a couple of my cousins glued in front of a TV and crying their eyes out.....at first I was...'what the ??? they can't even understand what's the characters were all saying as they're in a foreign language and was just reading the subs and there they were, all have red and puffy eyes.....but suffice it to say, I got curious and borrowed all the 20cds as there were no DVDs at that time and soon, am also become like a loon, sometimes bawling in front of our TV or sometimes smiling ear to ear whenever there is Kwon Sang Woo in my screen.....the drama is Stairways to Heaven, one of the first Kdramas introduced in our local TV and that was the start of my now many sleepless nights, of my many days reporting for work like a zombie as I haven't sleep the night before having marathoned a 16 or sometimes more episodes of a drama......there were times that 2days of weekend were not enough for me in watching my fave dramas that I would called in sick the next day, Monday just to satisfy my 'addiction'.......my officemates would tease me that I live in outer space as sometimes during coffeee breaks they will talk about a certain news that happened during the week or weekend and I would say "really?? when did it happened?", I have no idea about it as I'm always in front of my pc watching my dramas and nowadays I don't even recognized some of our new local celebrities as I don't watched TV anymore. Also, got only time to talk with my officemates during the 10min coffeebreaks as my 1 hour lunch break were also spent watching dramas. I didn't join our company's outing this year in Boracay as I thought I would be much happier spending 2days of my weekend watching my dramas. Before, I only feel happier 2months a year coz the other 10months were spent without my hubby as he's working abroad, so glad I got introduced to Krama world as I have now those lovely oppas in my hard disk to date with during those 10months. And if only I don't have a kind boss and receiving a good pay I swear I would stop working and just spend my days in front of my pc lol!

i was more of a jdorama fan than a kdrama fan. in fact, i hated the fact that kdramas were snatching the limelight away from jdorama back in 2000. the only kdrama i watched was Hotelier, which i have to admit i love!

but that did not managed to get me hooked. i never watched all the super hot dramas of my region (autumn in my heart, winter sonata, kim sam soon, dae jang geum) even now hahaha..

then in university, i watched Full House and i love love love the show! Rain and Song Hye-go were so cute together and the cinderella-style story never fails to get me hooked! that was when i got immersed into the world of kdrama i suppose. i can't remember how many times i have watched Full House! and i began trying to get Rain's kdramas. i 'endured' A Love to Kill (love the soundtrack though) and even sourced out Sang Doo, Let's go to School!

next up was Goong and Coffee Prince. newfound love for Yoon Eun-hye. i also began to watch Korean films (not those horrors though haha).. and due to Coffee Prince, i found this site!

i got more and more addicted (definitely the word!) to kdramas and began keeping a close eye on the shows that was interesting to me. Then it was Boys Over Flower time! having watched both Meteor Garden and Hana Yori Dango, i was eager to see how the korean one would fare. too bad the drama followed the lengthy Meteor Garden storyline but i like Lee Min Ho haha..

and my fav kdrama? You Are Beautiful =D
not a good timing though. i was having my exams at that time and as a full-time employee as well, i had to refrain myself from watching the drama! i only allowed myself to read the recaps on this site yet the fan in me grew and grew! my perseverance was amazing at that time come to think of it haha. only until the recap of episode 9 http://www.dramabeans.com/2009/11/youre-beautiful-episode-9/ , the screenshot of Jang Geun Suk with the pig and rabbit was so damn cute that i can't stop myself any further and watched that one single episode!
still i persevered and waited until i finished my exam. then it was YAB marathon. here it goes. i faked illness at work to stay home so that i can finish YAB! please let it continue to be a secret!

there, i'm officially a kdrama addict! there were so many other kdrama addict instances but i find it rather tough to put into words hahaha.

i must say i'm quite selective about my kdramas, but a quick glance at the shows i've watched would tell u that i would totally fall for the romantic cinderella story any time! beautiful sets a plus point!

next kdrama for me, Bad Guy! i'm a big Kim Jae Wook fan hehehe..
thanks for the wonderful site =)

eh-hem, right now i'm watching the repeats of YAB shown on tv hahahha

hmm.. maybe i need to elaborate on how i faked my illness, in case anyone would like to apply this tactic next (not recommended haha)

as i'm a rather honest person (eh-hem).. i couldn't bear the thought of just calling in sick like that. so i ate a plate of bad prawns.. and got some mild food poisoning hahaha..

silly me ^^

this is my first time to join any free giveaway contest. when i saw that you guys are giving away YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL ( my favorite!), i knew that i had to join and try my luck :D i even have a video of the part where GO MI NAM was singing without words in my IPOD. now i know the song by heart! :D i first got addicted to kdrama because of coffee prince and jewel in the palace. i don't really watch dramas on tv, but somehow coffee prince and jewel in the palace got my attention.as if a whole new world opened up for me!!!! as in my day would not be complete if i don't get to watch a kdrama :D i started tuning in to the lone korean channel we have in cable here in manila. started looking for blogs about kdramas, videos and interviews and articles. and guess what....... i even enrolled in language school and took up korean language!!!! coz i got tired of not understanding what they are saying and relying only to subtitles :) i finished my 1st level of my korean class, and now i can read and write and somehow understand the dramas i'm watching!!!! :) and your blog dramabeans is my favorite! no no no, i'm not sucking up to you guys :) but your blog really gives a comprehensive article for every topic and i super love your rotating headers!!!! it's always new and never boring. your blog is the first thing i read everyday to update myself. thank you thank you so much for putting up dramabeans!!!!!

I was really into the series Boys Over Flowers. and when I say, really into Boys Over Flowers. I mean REALLY. INTO. THAT. SERIES.
My family and I were planning our family vacation to Korea and it was very exciting because my parents choose Korea as the vacation place because they know how passionate I am about it.
Well I was online talking to this person on Ebay who lived in Korea
They were selling an authentic Boys Over Flowers moon and star necklace.
Since they were going to have to ship it manymany miles the shipping and handling charge was almost as much as the necklace itself.
So I made a deal with them, that I would drive by their house when I went to Korea and pick up the necklace myself. They agreed.
I discussed this with my parents and once we looked at a map of the cities in Korea and realized that we were going to be in Seoul while the Ebayer's house was near Daejeon, nearly two hours away from Seoul
My parents were hesitant at first, not wanting to go two hours to someplace just for a necklace and then two hours back to the hotel, back realizing that it was a great chance to explore Korea, they settled for it
So we arrived in Korea, checked into our hotel and then the very next day, we took a Subway and then tranfered to a Train to get to this person's house.
Upon arrival they gave me my necklace, and once she found out that I had traveled so far to get a necklace (though it WAS authentic) she decided to throw in a Boys Over Flowers Poster for free.

It was amazing.
Not just getting the necklace that Gu Jun Pyo gave to Guem Jan Di, but also a poster
AND not to mention getting able to see alot of Korea doing it.
One of the most memorable Family Vacations I will ever have.

Ok, so here's my crack at storytelling. The wackiest of the wackiest is suppose to be the name of the game, right? So, i won't bother minding my manners here. My story tends to be borderline gross, so consider yourselves warned.

I'm just your typical kdrama lover. There's the typical sleepless kdrama viewing marathons, skipping class for a finale, daydreaming in biology class over hot korean actors, etc...typical, right? Anyways, my story starts when I received a pretty, new phone for my birthday a couple of months ago. One, of those really nice ones that plays awesome resolution videos, and on top of that is loaded with a 40 gb memory. To make the most out the phone, i quickly loaded it with all my favorite kdramas. Kdrama on the go! AWESOME! Great for killing whenever I can afford to. For example, when spending the night at your sister's new apartment because you're helping her move, which I did do. Doesn't sound too bad, but when I say "NEW" apartment, i mean no tv, no internet, no nothing, not even scrabble. The situation would have been SO much more excruciating, if it weren't for my wonderful phone. Kdrama amusement to the rescue! I decided to watch Pasta over again because I was up for all the tingly moments trip. The excitement was quickly coming back, and soon, I just couldn't stop watching. I couldn't put the phone down, not even for a little bathroom break.Come on, I can't possibly be the only freak who brings their laptops with them to the bathroom because clicking on the pause button is just too painful. Ok, so only difference is this time I have my phone. Really, I should have just been in there for like 30 seconds, but because I was just so glued onto the screen(I was watching the episode where mr. voice finally gave in to his feelings for chef girl, and he gave her the forehead kiss at the end of the episode), I ended up hovering over the toilet after i flushed for like 10 more minutes to finish the episode. So, I've just been standing there facing the toilet for the past 10 minutes, finally episode ends, I can finally move again, and to this day, I still don't know how it happened, but SPLISH! SPLOSH! in slips my phone out of my hands, into the toilet. The world just kind of stops for a second there, and then I let out one of my signature screams. It was 3AM, so I basically scared the crap out of my sister who was sleeping in the other room. I eventually was able to fish my phone out of the toilet, but the phone just couldn't survive the trauma. At least I managed to save the SD memory card, and saved all my kdramas. I'll never forget how my always perfect sister looked like crap that morning, and apparently she wasn't the only person I woke up with my scream. One of her new neighbors actually knocked on our door to ask if we were okay.

LOL Did I mention the neighbor was cute, and I eventually went out on a couple of dates with him. As much as I'd like to say this story has a typical Kdrama happy ending, all it was, was just a couple of dates...but hey, I got a few tasty meals, and a new good friend out of it. Not bad.

So, in the name of my bad kdrama viewing habits, I've broken some common sense sanitation laws there, dropped a working phone in the toilet, fished a broken phone out of a toilet ( but saved the memory card! HOORAY!), and even scored a date. I'd like to think of it as a funny memory now, but whenever I tell people once in a while, I still get the..."What were you doing with your phone in the toilet anyways?" every now and then...