Category: Just for Fun

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Fantastically Foreign Friday Vol. 3

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As promised, this week’s music spotlight belongs to none other than the amazing F.T. Island. Debuting in 2007, the five-member band has met with incredible success across Asia, with their single, “Theory of Happiness” grabbing the #1 spot on Japan’s Oricon Daily chart earlier this year. If chart ranking mean nothing to you, have no fear because listening to just one of F.T. Island’s songs is enough to impress you. Their pop/rock sound is taken to a whole new level with the vocals of Lee Hong Ki. Seriously, every time Lee Hong Ki starts to sing I feel like I’m going to melt, his voice is just. that. good. *sigh*

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If, after downloading all of F.T. Island’s albums and singles, you still can’t get enough of Lee Hlee hongki nail bookong Ki, you can watch him in We Got Married-Global Edition or you can check out his book of nail art, which was released earlier this year…if you can get your hands on a copy. The pre-sales alone caused Nail Book to take the top slots on the Tower Record’s book and magazine charts and it’s been a bestseller since its release. The fact that it’s sold out on Amazon, with no indication of if or when it will be available again, should give you some of idea of just how popular Lee Hong Ki is. If anyone out there knows where I can find a copy of this book, please let me know! o_O

MischievousKiss-poster

As much as I’d like to go on and on about Lee Hong Ki and the rest of F.T. Island, I should move on to this week’s drama, Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo, which just happens to be the most recent adaptation of one of my all-time favorite manga, Itazura na Kiss. Starring Honoka Miki and Furukawa Yuki, MK:LIT follows the story of Aihara Kotoko, an ordinary high school girl with a severe crush on an extraordinary boy, Irie Naoki,  who turns her down flat seconds after she confesses to him. If that weren’t bad enough, Kotoko’s house is soon after destroyed by a meteorite and she and her father are forced to move in with her father’s childhood friend who just happens to be Naoki’s father. Things only better from there as Kotoko and Naoki find their lives intertwining in ways they could have never imagined.

 

So that pretty much does it for this week…enjoy and I’ll see you next week for another edition Fantastically Foreign Friday!

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Fantasticly Foreign Fridays

As you may or may not know, I’m an adventurer. I love to explore, to visit new places, try new things and one of my biggest goals in life is to experience as much of the world as possible before I die. Of course, my desire to explore is sorely inhibited by the fact I have four little zombies at home who need me much more than I need to see the world; so I do the only thing I can, I explore the world through my computer, or more specifically through the internet. I’ll be forever grateful to Al Gore for inventing something as amazing as the internet (and yes, that was said in complete sarcasm) because now, I can see and experience things I would have never known existed otherwise. Among other things, I have discovered the fantastically amazing world of foreign entertainment and being the sole fan of such awesomeness in my own limited world, I’ve decided to share some of my favorites with you, because let’s face it, most of you probably have no idea what I’m talking about and well…that’s just sad. This is why I’ve decided to dedicate my Friday postings to introduce you to all things foreign and fantastic, so that you too can discover the joy of exploring the world that lies beyond your doorstep.

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I’d like to start off by introducing you to one of my new favorite bands, the Japanese rock band, ONE OK ROCK. Formed in 2005, ONE OK ROCK, describes themselves as a mixture of “emo, rock and heavy metal,” and I have to say, it’s a sound I can’t get enough of. I downloaded their latest album, Jinsei x Boku = earlier this year and it’s been on my Top 25 Playlist ever since. If you’ve never taken the time to explore the world of Japanese rock, or any style of Japanese music for that matter, you’re really missing out. To prove my point, I’ve added a couple of videos from ONE OK ROCK for you to check out for yourself. All I ask is that you give them a try. Who knows, they may end up on your Top 25 Playlist before you know it.

OOR albumOOR single


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Part of the reason I chose Fridays as my day to discuss all things foreign and fabulous is because Friday marks the beginning of the weekend and the weekend is the absolute best time to marathon an Asian drama. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, Asian dramas are shows, aired weekly in their country of origin, that typically run anywhere between 16-20 episodes (though there always shows who break the rules), usually with two episodes airing each week. Anyone with Netflix has probably come across a Korean drama or two, while searching for something new to watch without ever giving them a shot, shows like You’re Beautiful, My Princess, Protect the Boss, Boys Over Flowers, and Playful Kiss, and that’s just even more sad than never giving Japanese rock a try! The world of Asian dramas is vast and varied and some of the most entertaining shows you’ll ever watch, you simply have to be willing to give a show with subtitles a try. *And no, you can’t whine about how you hate reading your shows. Suck it up! Reading’s good for you!* If you don’t have Netflix (and even if you d0), have no fear, www.DramaFever.com has over 13,000 episodes from 60 content partners across 12 countries which means you can watch practically any Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese and Latin American Telenova you can imagine. (And yes, I also write for DramaFever so I’m a little biased when it comes to where I watch my Asian dramas, could you tell?) With so many options, it’s hard to know where to start, which is why I’m here to help. Each week, I’ll introduce you to a new drama so you can spend your otherwise boring and depressing weekend marathoning you new favorite show.

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This week’s drama is one of my favorites…You’re Beautiful. It’s the story of a nun-in-training who’s forced to enter the all male world of an idol pop band, in order to help her brother. Written by the Hong Sisters (who are hands down my favorite drama writing duo) You’re Beautiful is as hilarious as it is heart-warming and I dare you not to like it! Find it on Netflix or watch it here…and be sure to come back next week because this…is only the beginning!