Well... as you all know, I love Korean dramas... started getting hooked on them since I was in college...my only friend then was Arirang Channel, keeping me company while my insomnia attacks me...

I usually watch arirang and the TVE (German Channel) if I'll be up all night doing my plates...watching them was a fun experience for me, at the same time educational too coz I really make an effort to learn more about the language.

What I like most about Arirang Channel is that before they show the prime time Soap Opera, they would run a show called "LETS SPEAK KOREAN" where they would teach you how to converse using their language... and I often follow what the host is doing...

"여보세요, 나의 이름은Pauline이다. 나가 말하고 싶는 모두는 저Ji-Hoonhoon및Eun-Hye바위 이다!!!"
(Which means...hi, my name is Pauline. All I want to say is Ji-Hoon and Eun-Hye rocks!!!)

Hehehehe... and in case if you do not know them...they are the newest k-drama to hit the prime time TV...Princess Hours...

I saw their preview in Arirang, and it looked really funny coz the girl (Eun-Hye) is really funny...from the way she talks and the way she acts...she's like Ruffa Mae Quinto but a less weirder version...

And Ji-Hoon is sooooo handsome....its so rare that I would like a Korean actor, because I always think that their eyes are either too big or too small... but I've grown to love a few, and my list would include (Bi-Rain from Fullhouse, Jerome and Gillian from Green Rose and now...Ji-Hoon from Princess Hours)

Actually, Princess Hours is based on a Korean anime comics called Goong... but Goong comics is a much aggressive story than what they did in TV. But still, they are the first soap opera that I saw, that showed real kissing...I mean, like how Marissa and Ryan, Summer and Seth would kiss in the OC...that kind of kissing... which is a rare thing in K-drama coz koreans are much more conservative than we are. (The picture here is one of the scenes in the tv-drama...showing their sweet side...)

All in all...i love it...the concept is like FullHouse (with the arranged marriage, the guy having an old gf, witty script, all the aja aja fighting that I heard, and the love hate relationship...and the boy finally falling in love with the girl)...

But this one has more twist in it...and lets you see how Korea was when they still have a monarchy (coz if my Discovery Channel knowledge is correct, Korean monarchy were abolished after the world war II)...and they shown here how the Royals feels towards the public, setting standards for themselves way beyond the expectations of the people... and how difficult it is for them to show what they really feel.

The story started with Caijun...a commoner whose studying in Royal School of the Arts which were coincidentally, being attended by the Crown Prince of Korea himself. They got off in a wrong foot, which made the Crown Prince quite mad with her, but like her the same time coz she was the first person to actually throw something to his face... (on their case, a school rubber shoes were thrown on his back)...

Little did the Prince know that he was arranged to be married to the granddaughter of the late emperor's bestfriend...which turned out to be Caijun's grandfather whom has a close relationship with the late emperor when he used to work in the Palace. So, what Prince Shin did to escape the arranged marriage...he proposed to his long time crush...Monique... but Monique thought he was just joking and flatly refused his proposal...heartbroken, Prince Shin then accepted the arrangement...and there started the very nice story between the two...

I particularly love this scene...(as seen on this pic) and its in the later part of the soap...when Shin and Caijun already confessed each other's feelings towards one another...Shin and Caijun walked the streets of Seoul without any guards in tow, not bearing their royal titles, just two people in love... and Caijun asked how much Shin loved her, and to her utter surprise, Shin took off his hat for the world to see that he is the Crown Prince and kissed Caijun sweetly, as if no one was around them... I so love this scene, i keep rewinding it whenever I play the DVD in our home...

But one of the funnier side of this soap opera is that they used a lot of Bears... seriously...TEDDY BEARS are the pivotal point in the story... :) and they are very funny, coz they wear the same clothes the characters are wearing, even the traditional Korean hanboks and the head-dress the Empress Dowager, Empress and Empress Mother were using...hehehehe...so cute... :)

I guess, this post is pretty much a dead giveaway how fascinated I am with Korean TV, their culture and their food... I was the one who asked Wats0n to order the bimbimbop... (my favorite korean dish)...whom I was able to first experience in an old korean restaurant in Alabang when I was about 16 years old...and that is usually what I do order if ever I would eat in any Korean restaurant...(especially KAYA) :D yummy....

But apart from the story and the actors in Princess Hours, I also love their soundtrack... :D again, another rarity. I love it so much that on my newest volunteer work (I will play the piano infront of the benefactors of one of the local charities in Alabang that I volunteer in...which would take place sometime in February)... I will play ICE POND... one of the piano pieces you can hear in the OST.

oh well... that's all folks, hope you will love Princess Hours like I did :D

너를 감사하십시요 (kamsahamnida:thank you)

(pics are from the SOOMPI (K-Pop and K-Drama fanbase website) thread of Princess Hours)

Since early December,I was going through my old stuffs, starting to pack things... for my eventual departure... now the date has been finally set... 2nd Friday of April... I've dreaded for that day to come, I wish I wouldn't leave, but my responsibilty is more important than for my reasons of staying.

And as I carefully go through my old stuffs, I saw an old letter from an old friend... Stephen. (remember him? I don't think anyone reads my blog religiously anyway, except for my friend Anna who was kind enough... :) in his letter he wrote:

"I would ask for no more if I have the sky with all it's stars,and the world with its endless riches... but I would be content with my life in the smallest corner of the earth if you were by my side."

I remember he keeps on telling me that he was the one who wrote that, but when I was able to read my favorite book back then in college (The Collective Writings of Rabindranath Tagore) I saw those words and I smiled... he never knew that I know where he got it... coz I loved seeing him smile thinking I really believed him.

I saw Mac's photos, the one that I would take secretly and print secretly too in my friend's darkroom... he's happy now and for me, he would always be my one true Thomasian crush...

And then there's Doryn's photo in Venice... the one photo that I didn't burn, the one photo that would remind me of what I did and with it would probably bring back all the pain...but no more regret, no more hurt, no more anger and no more sorrow...just plain sadness of loosing a friend.

I also saw the letter that I wrote for my dad, and myself almost a decade ago. Eversince I found out about his elusive affair... and that day my life was turned upside down in a second.

I cannot simply blame others for what I have become, I've grown to accept certain things, certain realities that goes along with it. My burdens are my own, and no one should fix it for me. I finally understood what my grandma told me, that I would know and I would feel when the time is right for me to stand up, fulfill my duty to my family. When I was 18, I refuse to accept such responsibility, and now my fate is haunting me. I wish the world would stop spinning...but that would never happen...especially not for just one person.

And while I was closing my box of forgetfullness, a letter dropped from one of my old school books while I was placing it back to my cabinet. It was from Emma, telling me that she would always have me as her friend even if we get to be reincarnated 200million times. She wrote that to me when we were 12...in her letter she said we'd travel the world together, see Buckingham Palace and watch the Queen wave towards the people in her palace balcony, see New York like it was the first for the both of us, eat all the hotdogs in every corner of the Big Apple, go to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower, climb its stairs till our legs can no longer hold it, drink coffee in Champs de Elysse, shop in the Lagerfeld store only to realize we couldn't probably afford it, go to Brussels just to eat its famous dark chocolates, go to Netherlands and wonder why they were called the Orange Country, wonder through the streets of Pisa and lean over its Tower, see Copenhagen and visit the home of Hans Christian Andersen, ski through the glittering mountains of Verbier, and finally rest along the shores of Marbella. Emma, how come I can no longer have this dream, how come I miss you this much, and I feel like my heart would explode every moment that I do remember you. When Christmas came, Anna and I couldn't help but tell ourselves that we're no longer complete, there's this empty space between me and her, and we know its because you're not here anymore. Believe me, we wanted to be happy on a festive season such as Christmas, but its the first Christmas Anna and I travelled without you. And it is really really sad... but life has to move on right, this pain would pass... you'll help us to heal, Anna and I knows that you will. You wouldn't let us be this sad for so long, I can hear you say... crying is not our best asset...we totally suck... but seriously Emmanuelle Grace, its sad enough that I am letting all the memories of our happy past stay within the protective walls of my room... I would never forget, so the next time you get to be reincarnated, remember that I am still the 19th century English Lady you knew from some distant past, and the weird chubby girl you have grown to love and hate, and made a lasting friendship with.

Now, my box is officially close.

Although most of my stuffs are placed in various boxes, there are a few things that I will take with me... Emma's jacket, Stephanie's and Doryn's gift to me that they bought in Divisoria (a plastic 3 purple roses), photos of me, anna, carla, my neoprint with Do, Tricia and Anne, my gift from Sir Nick (Frosty), Princess Em's gift and her card, my sleeping beauty watch, the books that Emma and Marie gave me,and most of all my pictures with my bestfriends, my 3 other sisters and my grandma, that I would bring with me anywhere the wind takes me.

Last year... I made a few commitments to some people and 2 organizations.

This year, I decided to continue my commitments to these 2 organizations; and to start the year right... I also decided to add another organization that I plan on helping...in the simplest way I know.

My cousin volunteered for this organization when it was inagurated last year, and now that I am on my way to a far away land this year...


This organization focuses on helping children affected with Aids in the small African Kingdom of Lesotho. I know there are many children who are in need as well here in our beloved country, but theres is no reason still as to why we can't help other people who suffers the same fate as we do... and far worse for these children... no money for medicine, lack of education, lack of response from people, and just the plain simple fact that even their government cannot do anything for them.

I promise to continue my duty to my adopted scholar from WorldVision, and as soon as I am settled in my place sometime in May... I will send you some books that you liked for your school this coming June :) and hopefully, I can fulfill your wish with God's help in buying you a new computer... don't loose hope though...ill work my ass off there so I can give you this :)

And I promise Habitat for Humanity (Muntinlupa Chapter) that I will dedicate all my Sunday mornings working with them for their new project before I go :)

So...nothing spectacular that I wished and hope for this new year...except that I pray to God that I will easily settle in my new chosen life :)

GOD BLESS TO EVERYONE AND HOPE YOU GUYS HAD A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!!!