Neverending Sunday - 2 October

My dear O.,

It’s Sunday again and hello, October! After last week’s long 4-day break I feel that this weekend is way too short for me.

Anyway, let’s see what we have for today. My choice of topics today include some of the things from the past several weeks that had impressed me in some way and I want to share them with you.

Recipe

       

       In July I decided to try a new kind of dish. It isn’t something original, but it was new to our home menu, so that made it an exciting dish to try. The basic ingredients include chicken meat, onion, carrots and a huge amount of green peppers. All of the veggies have to be sliced into thin pieces and everything is fried in a wok, with some soya sauce and 1-2 cloves of garlic. Simple and delicious! We call it “Granny’s Chinese meal” because of the use of soya sauce, but it is not so appropriate. You can add some zucchini, or as in our case when we got together at your place for a home-cooked meal – some Chinese mushrooms (I found their name - Cloud ear fungus). The crunchiness of all the vegetables must be preserved and that makes it very delicious, in my opinion.

Drama

Apart from our Descendants of the Sun marathon at the beginning of September, we managed to watch two more dramas, one of which I am going to review in brief.

Photo source: dramafever.com

Playful Kiss is a based on the popular Japanese manga Itazura na Kiss. I remember watching the anime series more than three years ago. It is not the typical anime that you can usually watch, for me it was more like family-oriented story, I guess. Or at least that was the feeling I had after watching it.

It wasn’t the same with the drama. Korean dramas can vary from other dramas or even animated versions of the same story.  We watched it last week during the four-day holidays and as our plans to go on separate trips during those precious and last resting days for this year failed. So granny and I decided to use the time to do the chores during these days and the evenings were spent watching this drama. The series aired in 2010 so that makes it an old drama and it surely looked like that. The story follows the hardships of a not so smart girl who is in love with a bored genius boy. Dear, if you don’t watch it, you won’t lose. It surely is sweet, but just for wasting your time, although there are some funny moments that stay in your mind even after you have finished it. The leading actor, who I know is also a singer, looks like a wood in a bad mood, decorated with beautiful, but always irritated face. The main actress is sweet and may poses some kind of talent for more deeper roles, but I think that this character particularly puts her in a frame that cannot be escaped. The stereotype of the caring, yet dumb woman and the look-at-me-I-am-an-awesome-man type is very common in some Asian dramas and stories. They just don’t want independent girls sometimes and that’s it (Although there are some examples and strong female characters are on the rise nowadays).  I mostly liked the second male lead, who turns out to be a delinquent-looking person with a very good heart (and he speaks in dialect very well). The relationship between the younger brother and the mother is very entertaining as it was in the anime as I remember. Good drama, but you can easily skip watching it.

I guess, I am not good in expressing myself in brief - look how many words I have written about a drama I do not recommend you to watch! I wanted to write about another more exciting drama, but I will leave it for next week. ;)

Hit the Stage (Or hit me in the heart with those awesome dances!)

            My dear, I happened to watch videos on YouTube of a show that ended last week. It’s called Hit the Stage, it is Korean and has mega-awesome dance performances!

At first my interest was generated by Taemin’s appearance in the teaser advertising this show. But after watching some performances as it started, I began liking it even more. What can I say, I enjoyed everything I saw! I am going to put here some of the dances I liked the most. Of course, the others were awesome too, but I keep repeating these, because they became my favorite! (And I must confess, I am biased – I like watching the males dancing more than the females, blame me! Such energy and strength! And also – J-Black and Pinky Cheeks, Yugyeom, U-Kwon, I want you to dance on my wedding day, no joke! You were awesome!!!Haha!...Well, if I ever get to marry someone… Anyway, just think about the joke here. ;) )

Block B U-Kwon transforming to the Joker!

Uniform Match Concept Show- Like OOH-AHH! J-Pink

Nicole as Harley Quinn

Romantic + Fatal Attraction

Robotic dance

Yugyeom - EP. 9

Destination for Motivation

You told me you really wanted to go to Italy (Milan and Turin), but recently the tickets got more expensive. Don’t be sad, you will go someday, maybe even soon. And I wish you to be in the best company and to have the best time there. Even if you feel alone now that you are living in a different city, trying to fit in and studying hard, don’t get sad, because bright days are coming and there are a lot of people that think about you. You are loved, my dear. And someday you will travel this beautiful world and you will feel complete. And, if I get the chance to share even one of these moments while you are at the top of the world, filled with excitement, then, my dear, then I will be even more proud.  

Milan

Milan
Photos taken from Tumblr: Freddie Ardley Photography

Hugs,
R.

It’s finally spring time!

 

Dear Oli,

The photos are amazing! Barcelona is indeed a magical city! You’ve been to so many places there! I wish we could revisit it together some day! And we will! :)

It seems that these days we don’t have much time to write to each other here. I know that you are busy now-tests and assignments and your days must be really hectic. I can’t wait to see you in a few weeks!!! Remember when we decided to start this blog several months ago? Wooow, can you realize that it has been like… two and a half seasons since then?! Spring is finally (and officially) here! And we have a lot to catch up!

So, what’s new… I HAVE A RICE COOKER! Hahaha! My father made me a present for the International Women’s Day! It was such a surprise! 

 

 

My granny wasn't so impressed, haha! For her it is “another thing that takes so much space”.

You can see the steamed veggies I also made. They were really delicious!

Work

So, apparently there was a job offer last week which was kind of interesting, but I decided not to apply. The reason-well, the position could not grant me the stability and the kind of development I want to pursue. Anyway, I keep looking for new and tempting offers, yet I am not sure in all my abilities anymore, but that’s another topic (probably some day I will get really drunk and confess everything here).

 The job must be something really creative and (most of the time) fun, but also something that can ensure a kind of stability. Sounds VERY confusing, right? Some may say that creative people can’t be sure about their nearest future and it’s really difficult to land a job that’s creative and at the same time can grant you the next five years. Yes, that’s true. And no, I don’t want to stay forever in one job position. But these days it is really hard for young people to find something that’s worth it for more than six or nine months. Usually young people get kicked out after a short period, simply because of multiple reasons. I won’t continue writing on this topic, because it’s long and boring. I like my current job, it’s not so stressful and the money I get is good, but I am a young person and I want to keep developing and keep learning new things. After all, we spend most of the time working, right?

Bonus photo: Can you believe that they still use audio tapes during meetings?! I know, it's so old school and vintage, but you can see  they are new. Apparently there are some manufacturers who still produce them. Nice touch of the past.

Fashion

I recently got interested in gradient nails. It’s my new obsession although I have done them like this only two times. I am putting a photo of my first (and more successful) attempt to do gradient nails.

This week I went to the hairdresser. My hair is officially well cut, yay! I will have to wait until summer to make it even shorter, but now it is fine. No trace of the princess-like length which is a bit sad but after the disaster last year I think that I got used to the idea that I will have to wait again for longer hair. But it’s nothing to worry about. ;)

My new shoes are still in the box because of the cold weather but I think that the upcoming week I will have the chance to put them on. I don’t have a photo of them maybe I will post of I don’t forget. They are black Oxford-style velour shoes with some patent leather. Nice, huh? :)

It’s Seoul Fashion Week! Actually I am more interested in Seoul Street Style during SFW, hahaha! I found really good images of interesting combinations of clothes on Tumblr, but there’s no point to post them here when they are not mine. The point is that people in Korea for example are more innovative and bold when it comes to combination of clothes. And even though we all think that the West influences the East, I dare to say that in many cases it is the opposite. Of course this is my personal oppinion. ;) 

Music and Drrraaamaaaas

Granny and I are currently watching Gap-dong. This, my dear, is a very dangerous k-drama to watch! Not because it’s a crime story, but because it’s addicting! Awesome cast, awesome acting and, as of episode 6, a very good storyline. I strongly recommend this drama to you if you have some free time in the nearest future!

This is the BG poster I found in the Eastern Spirit forum

Another series that caught my attention last summer was It's Okay, That's Love. We managed to  watch it last month and we were really impressed by it. The drama may look like another love story – two people fighting at the beginning and then falling in love, but this time you have more serious topics in it. You end up crying and laughing almost at the same time. It’s a good drama, watch it! You will also see some familiar faces there. 

The soundtrack is also a sweet thing to listen to. There are several songs that are on my playlist but there is this one that makes me burst into laughter everytime I listen to it. It may not be a song for you to put in your playlist but it reminds of so many funny moments of the drama that at the end you fall into it’s rhytm. It also has that Balkan feeling in it, althought it’s made by Canadians (as I remember). It's my alarm. Can you imagine something like this to wake you up every morning? Funny and sunny. :D :D :D

Little Suns - Sunboat 

Of course, not to forget Chen-Chen’s awesome contribution to the soundtrack:  Chen - Best Luck

Speaking of Jongdae’s magical voice abilities (Chen from EXO) and, of course, mentioning EXO… Last weekend was insane for some K-pop fans. Even I was about to explode at some point.

Actually, the thing I was the most excited about was SHINee’s Tokyo Dome concerts. Two days. So many people. Live performances, lots of sweat and tears… I am so proud of them! 

The image is taken from Tumblr :)

They also said that there will be a new album in Korea untill the end of 2015. As I know SM Entertainment I’m pretty sure that the boys are already halfway done with the album. Can’t wait for their new concept!

Also, for some reason, SM Entertainment decided to hold the two remaining concerts of EXO at the same time…in Seoul. There you go-our sweet Baozi showed his fresh (and sexy, damn it!) abs, Jongin (Kai) cried, all the boys were literally stripping behind see-through tent (not sure of the word here) and many other things that shocked the hearts of schoolgirls and crazy fans in Korea (and abroad). 

Whose idea was this???

For me it was funny and at the same time sad, because SM uses this tactic for money (of course). Taemin form SHINee also performed half-naked in Tokyo, even Key wore some kind of S&M leather...things on him (ironically enough I mean sado-m... but it looks almost like the name of their company). Almost all of the boys usually are very shy and to see them like this may be exciting but I am pretty sure they do not do this because they really want to do it.

Anyway, I’m not the type to analyze or criticise, this is show business after all.

Their comeback is expected at the end of March and the company already began showing some mystery teasers which put the fandom in some crazy-calculating state. 

There are so many things I want to tell you about but it's really late and tomorrow is Monday so... I should write here more, even if it's about something small. 

I can't wait to see you soon! Good luck with all tests, assignments and exams! Have faith in your abilities! You can do it! 

P. S. I am posting two photos of the cookies we made with granny with the stamp you gave me as s present. Sorry for the delay!!! 

Hugs, 

R.