IU's Last Fantasy

South Korea’s national little sister is now all grown up and she wants to move on by shedding her childish image, replacing it a more matured image.

Now IU is back her latest album titled Last Fantasy, and it is a real fantasy listening to this album, I tell you. Famous for her three-octave pitch, IU explores a slightly different genre this time round, even lending a hand in composing some of the songs on this album.

Not bad for a young singer, I guess. IU’s forte lies in her soft vocals, which are able to reach high notes. Although she knows her strengths, she does not over-use them, and thus it is a real delight to her songs.

The main track of the album, You and I, is a song which tells of a story of a girl whose is expecting to meet her life partner someday. It is a song of hope and the passing of time, and there might be similarities to her previous hit song Good Day. Furthermore, this is one of my favourites off the album.

The song opens with a movie-like suspense theme song, and IU explores high and low notes in this song. It is a very spirit-lifting song, but it is so unlike other K-pop songs that I must salute IU for standing out with this track.

Here’s the time-travelling music video for You and I, where IU meets her dream guy in the end. I also love the performance version of the song, so do enjoy both music videos!

Secret is a calming song, where IU’s sweet vocals serenade you till you feel as though you are floating on the clouds.

Another track which I love is Uncle, Samchon in Korean, and the upbeat sound of this track somehow appeals to me. A Lost Puppy is IU’s own composition, though I find it a bit too dark, her voice is hauntingly beautiful in this one.

4AM, the track which Corinne Bailey Rae composed, is another one of my favourites. Not counting the fact that I love Corinne’s soulful sound as much as IU does, this track is one that shows that IU is so talented beyond her years. IU’s soulful interpretation is so convincing, so much so till I feel as though Corinne is singing this song.

Other tracks on this album includes Sleeping Prince of the Woods, Child Searching for a Star, Wallpaper Design, Wisdom Tooth, Everything’s Alright, Last Fantasy, Teacher and The Lover (L’amant).

This is the best album from a Korean female singer for the whole of this year. By taking a road less travelled, IU has set herself apart from many other female idol groups in the K-pop scene.

Looking forward to see IU’s Japanese release already!

The author became a fan of IU when she started listening to her awesome voice on Dream High, where she starred as Pilsuk, the ugly but talented star student.

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Deep Rooted Tree: An Intriguing Drama

Another sageuk (historical drama) has hit the silver screens, titled Deep Rooted Tree. The name of the drama comes from a poem (Yongbieocheonga) that says that trees with deep roots do not sway.

The drama takes place in a prosperous time - the era of King Sejong (played by Soong Joong Ki and older self by Han Suk Kyu), who invented the modern Korean writing system in the 15th century. A series of murders occur in Gyeongbok Palace that targeted scholars of the Hall of Worthies, an institute set up by King Sejong for scholarly research.

As Kang Chae Yoon (Jang Hyuk) investigates these cases and gets closer to the truth, he finds himself embroiled in a massive conspiracy behind the killings which involves a group of genius who are willing to risked their lives towards their cause/goals and secret powers who will interfere with the course of his investigations.

Kang Chae Yoon is a former slave turned royal guard. As a child, he is known as Ddol-Bok, and he protected his mentally retarded father from the teasing of other servants of the Queen's family. Later, Ddol-Bok 's father was arrested then beaten near death, dying in front of him and his childhood friend So Yi (Shin Se Kyung) was taken by Court Ladies. He was saved by Yi Do (young King Sejong) and swore to avenge his father's death before he became a soldier by a changed name.

Because of his father's death as child, Chae Yoon has grudge against the King and his childhood sweetheart, who became mute, was taken as a court lady. He doesn't know that So Yi and Dam are same person who he thought had died and reunited after discovering each other.

Meanwhile, King Sejong, who Ddol-Bok held a grudge against is the creator of Hangul. During his early years as king, Yi Do had a strained relationship with his father and harbored guilt for seeing people's suffering (including his wife's family) by his father's tyrannic rule.

While King Sejong (Yi Do) is played by 3 different actors, I felt that Soong Joong Ki portrayed him the best. As a child, he is a rude and arrogant person, as a young adult, he is demotivated and afraid of his father who uses him as a puppet. As a middle-aged man, he is eccentric and sometimes cold. Joong Ki's portrayal of Yi Do is that of a downcast and dispirited young man, and sometimes I can't help but compare how far he had improved since his last appearance in the other famous sageuk, Sungkyunkwan Scandal.

Will Chae Yoon a.k.a. Ddol-Bok manage to kill his saviour, King Sejong in the end? Find out by tuning in to ONE HD on ASTRO b.yond Channel 393 every Monday and Tuesday at 9pm!

The author is a sucker for sageuks, with Jewel in the Palace, Queen Seonduk, Sungkyunkwan Scandal and The Princess’ Man as her top favourites.

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JYJ's In Heaven Album Gets A Remix

JYJ has released a special edition of their recently released In Heaven album to thank their fans' immense support for their first Korean album.

This special edition contains the 10 songs from the original album including the remixed version of Get Out and In Heaven. It also comes with behind-the-scenes footage for their Get Out and In Heaven music videos, as well as the QR movies for the original album.

And the best thing in the album is a 10-minute version of their ‘In Heaven’ music video, which wasn't previously released!

There are also other perks such as the pictures in the booklet are set to be different from those of the original album.

The remixed tracks may vary from the original tracks, while retaining the core essence of the songs. Get Out has a more club feel, while In Heaven has a more pronounced background bass beat, giving it a more upbeat feel.

Here are the audio clips for the remixed versions of Get Out and In Heaven. Enjoy!





Credits go to f4rubypurple for the audio clips.

The author is still keeping the faith that one day JYJ will come and perform in a concert in her home country. Seeing is believing!

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K-drama Glory Jane Shows That You Can’t Escape The Past

Somehow I find Korean scriptwriters tend to be able to knit a huge group of people together, regardless of their social status and personality.

Glory Jane is no exception to that fact, Yun Jane (Park Min Young) is the daughter of a rich businessman who happens to make a promise to Kim Younggwang (Chun Jung Myung), the son of her father’s driver who made a homerun on his first attempt at baseball. The promise was that she would marry him once he became the best baseball player.

Tragedy strikes Jane’s family as her father drowned when the car he was in met an accident and plunged into water. His vice-chairman, father of Seo Inwu (Lee Jang Woo), the ace of the baseball team, only managed to save Younggwang’s father, the driver.

To make it all worse, Jane and her mother also met with an accident while rushing on the way to the hospital as the roads were slippery. Her mother was in a coma, while Jane couldn’t be found by the rescuers. Inwu’s father schemed to take over his best friend’s company since neither of his family members could maintain it. Meanwhile, he asked the driver to locate Jane, give her a new name and hide her away.

Younggwang’s father felt guilty for betraying his former employer, but at the same time needed the money offered by Inwu’s father to open a small noodle shop. He found Jane in a dazed state in a police station, and then put her in an orphanage where he reminded her never to forget her name, Yun Jane.

Years later, Younggwang is a baseball player on a minor league team, former 4th hitter of the major league team, is an innocently confident man who never stops trying his best to re-live past glories. Jane works as a nurse’s aide is a struggling young, cheery, bright girl who always maintains a positive attitude despite her poor background and dreams of becoming a nurse.

She meets Younggwang at the hospital when he sustains injuries, and Inwu when she tried to break the two men apart when they started fighting in the hospital.

One day, a nun from the orphanage came to give her the letters her father wrote to her all these years, but they were actually from Younggwang’s father, her deceased father’s driver.

Unknowingly, she tracks him down, thinking he’s her real father, and chanced upon Younggwang’s family, who misunderstood the poor man for having a child with another woman.

At the same time, Younggwang leaves the hospital where Jane works, leaving a note that hints that he’s interested in her. He comes home and discovers that... she’s actually his step-sister. A lie that started off small became huge! How did Younggwang’s father choose to solve it?

Tune in to Glory Jane every Wednesday and Thursday on ASTRO’s KBS World Channel 391 at 9.00pm and to find out more about this shocking revelation!

The author loves Park Min Young since watching Sungkyunkwan Scandal, but wishes that she would take up a bad girl role for her next drama to see a new side of her.

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Wonder Girls Creates A Retro 'Wonder World'

The Wonder Girls are finally back!! This time round with their latest album Wonder World, the girls are channelling the retro concept, making it the cool ‘in’ thing once again.

After their stint in the U.S., they have improved their English skills and also brought along a fresh concept into K-pop by infusing a little R&B sound into their music.

The title track, Be My Baby, achieved an all-kill on most music charts although the girls haven’t been seen on the Korean music scene for almost a year. Their fans, Wonderfuls, are definitely a faithful and loyal lot!

The song has the JYP touch to it, as it a catchy tune that gets you dancing and singing along at the first listen. A mid-tempo song, the song has three versions on this album, the standard version, a Ra.D mix version with piano accompaniment, and an English version. Personally, I preferred the Ra.D mix version, as it is really catchy and soothing at the same time.

Below is the music video for Be My Baby. Feelin’ the groove to dance along too?

There are a few fast-tempo songs on the album such as G.N.O. which stands for Girls’ Night Out, and Me, in which was used as the background music for their comeback teaser clips. Me, in comes across as a very angst-filled song with a lot of charisma.

The mid-tempo songs are Girls Girls, Sweet Dreams, Stop!, Dear Boy, SuperB, Act Cool (feat. San.E), and Nu Shoes. Meanwhile, there is also a ballad on the album, 두고두고, literally translated as ‘My List’.

Girls Girls is dedicated to all girls out there, Act Cool is a rap-filled song that is peppered with a smattering of Korean and English while Nu Shoes is wholly in English.

Not bad for a girl group making their debut in U.S. I think. Hopefully they’ll take the world by storm with a new English album soon!

The author caught the K-pop fever by listening the Wonder Girls’ Nobody, and ever since then there’s no turning back.

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Girls' Generation Unleashes New Album 'The Boys'

Girls' Generation are finally back with a Korean album, and boy, did they make a big bang! After teasing fans with countless music video teasers for their title track, they have finally released the much awaited album!

Simply titled The Boys, the album sees the nine members having a makeover towards a more feminine image, as opposed to their previous cutesy image for their previous albums.

The album opens with the Korean version of the title track The Boys, a mid-tempo song with a heavy beat in the background. Although I find it doesn't match up to their previous hits such as Gee, Run Devil Run, Hoot or Mr Taxi, somehow after a few repetitive spins, I got infected by the tune. Nevertheless, somehow I felt that the English version of The Boys sounds way better.

Upon the release of the music video, it has become viral on YouTube, hitting nearly 16 million views three weeks. Check out the music video for The Boys here!


The album consists of mainly dance tracks, but there are some ballads too, such as How Great is Your Love, My J and Sunflower.

Other songs include Telepathy, Say Yes, TRICK, OSCAR, Top Secret, Lazy Girl (Dolce Far Niente) and Vitamin. Also in the album is the Korean version of Mr Taxi which was a great hit in Japan.

I would say that their latest release doesn't really shine as much, except for their title track and maybe Mr Taxi. But hopefully as they do more promotions and music videos for the other tracks, we might come to appreciate them more too!

The author is a fan of Girls' Generation ever since Run Devil Run ended up on her music playlist.

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Lady Antebellum's Latest Album 'Own The Night'

The talented country music trio, Lady Antebellum, is back again with their latest album Own The Night. This round they roll out with a mellower sound throughout the whole album which consists of 12 songs.

Having attributed their success with their previous album Need You Now to social media marketing, the trio have once again followed the same formula by having digital single releases ahead of their full album and also other avenues such as having Webisode Wednesdays, showing video clips of their daily lives, and also Own The Board games for their fans to get pumped up for the release of the new album.

Although Lady Antebellum’s music leans towards country pop, there are still some pure country tracks on the album such as We Owned The Night, the first track on the tracklist. The song is an upbeat song which perfectly opens up the mood for the album. Another pure country track is Love I’ve Found You, a fast number that opens with the melody of country instruments.

Apart from the disco-themed Friday Night, other tracks on the album are pretty mellow and toned down.

Two of my favourites of the tracklist are Just A Kiss and Dancing Away With My Heart. Just A Kiss was previously released as a single, and has topped the country music charts. Watch the video for Just A Kiss here!

Dancing Away With My Heart deals with the memory of an old lover which was last seen during high school years. Somehow the harmonization of the trio is beautiful on this particular track, and gives emotions to this wonderful piece.

Other tracks on the album include When You Were Mine, Cold As Stone, Singing Me Home, Wanted You More, As You Turn Away, Somewhere Love Remains and Heart Of The World.

Perfect for a relaxing Sunday, do give Lady Antebellum’s Own The Night album a spin and judge for yourself!

The author is a fan of Lady Antebellum and hopes that country music will soon gain more recognition in Malaysia. Here is a link for a related article on Lady Antebellum written by the same author.

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Big Bad Wolf Books Warehouse Sale 2011

The biggest and baddest book sale is here again! This year, the warehouse sale is being held at a bigger and better venue to ensure more elbow space and also more books!

The Big Bad Wolf Books warehouse sale is taking place from October 7 till October 16 from 10 am to 9 pm daily at Hall A, Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS).

A total of 1.5 million books in the English language is being marked down from 75% to 95%. The categories of books offered are general fiction, young adult, cookery, hobbies and interest, computing, motoring, coffee table books, biographies and memoirs, religion and new age, manga, as well as children's books. There are definitely books to cater to every reader regardless of their age!

Do make a stop to the Big Bad Wolf Books warehouse sale to stock up on your reading collection! For more information, please visit Big Bad Wolf Book's website.

The author had bought a huge load of books from the Big Bad Wolf on the first day itself, and still looks forward to going back again for another haul!

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Protect The Boss: A Hilarious & Comedic K-Drama

Ever wondered how you could strangle and wrestle your demanding and fussy boss and get away with it? Well, it can happen, at least in Noh Eun Seul’s imagination.

My latest K-drama craze is Protect The Boss, the much talked about and super-hyped drama, which I was reluctant to follow because of the attention it was getting from having JYJ’s Kim Jaejoong starring in it. Imagine having heart palpitations whenever he comes onscreen! (My poor heart would not be able to handle it....)

As it turned out, the drama is a true gem, as every episode gave me much to laugh about with its hilarious lines and scenes. Even my whole family sits down just to watch this fantastic comedy!

Noh Eun Seul (Choi Kang Hee) happens to be an unemployed woman who goes from interview to interview, desperate for a job. Hired by a gang leader, she soon tries to escape from his molesting ways. In her escapade, she bumps into Cha Jiheon (Park Ji Sung) who got entangled in the mob and ends up being beaten as he was mistaken as her acquaintance.

Eun Seul ends up in another interview again, and was hired by Cha Muwon (Kim Jaejoong) for her eccentric personality, with the reason being that she would be a suitable secretary for the equally peculiar Jiheon. Little did she know that her future boss was the same person she had left behind in the mob attack.

Chairman Cha, Jiheon’s father, is a character to watch out for. He thinks that his son is a good-for-nothing and often leaves him to do whatever he wants, resulting in the Jiheon being uninterested in the business. The most hilarious parts are whenever father and son meets face-to-face, whether at home or at work, the father always tries to hit his son. The best part is when they have a scene in the company elevator, both parties’ secretary has to work together to block the CCTV from capturing the embarrassing scene!

Soon after Jiheon’s beatings took place, Chairman Cha was sentenced by the court to doing community work since he was caught beating up the mob that had beaten his son. Aha! What a funny and weird situation this turned out to be, since the catalyst was Eun Seol. Meanwhile, she starts work as Jiheon’s secretary, and all three, including Chairman Cha is oblivious to her as being the person who dragged them into the whole mess.

Jiheon tries to make life difficult for Eun Seol by giving demanding lunch orders but she soldiers on, strangling him in her mind. Till one fine day, Jiheon happens to find out Eun Seol is the woman he has been looking for, as he was dragged into the mob. Will she be able to keep her job and escape from the wrath of Chairman Cha?

Find out by tuning in to Protect The Boss, airing on ONE HD on ASTRO Channel 393 at 9.00pm every Monday and Tuesday!

The author recommends this K-drama to fans of eye candy on screen as this drama definitely fulfills their needs! Not forgetting the wonderful OST I'll Protect You that Kim Jaejoong had a hand in composing! Below is the music video for I'll Protect You. Do check it out!



Credits go to oumae27 for the music video!

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