yuki’s Neighborhood

Cold!

Seriously, that's all I can remember from today.

It was a -9 ~ -4 degress celcius, and we spent much of the day walking outdoors, visiting Gyeong Bok Gung and Myeong Dong.

My gosh. I wore like two stockings and knee length boots, three layer of clothes and an outer coat, and yet that wasn't enough. I felt cold! Me! Me, who never ever complained about coldness! I guess it was mainly because of my hands and my cheeks. I didn't bring a pair of gloves and had made the wrong decision to leave my cap at the hotel. I never understood the need to buy those ear mufflers. But now I do. My ears and cheeks were freezing!

Then, I recall about the various kdramas I watched recently, meaning those that were filmed recently, under such cold weather. From ILPK, we have the scenes of On Dal being drenched by the sprinklers at the golf course, of On Dal and Pyung Kang being drenched by the heavy rain, and of On Dal being chased by the hooligans into the stream, from which he came out topless. And then from WISOC, we have young Kang Jin and Ji Wan jumping into the river to retrieve Kang Jin's pendant, and grownup Ji Wan being drenched by the rain. Lastly, from Creating Destiny, the scene where Yeo Jun sat in the cold at night after getting drunk at Sang Eun's house.

Poor actors and actresses.

Aniwaes, today, I came back to the hotel with many complaints to make stories to tell.

So here's round 2 of Japan v Korea.

1. Toilets in Japan v Korea
   Basic standards for a toilet: toilet paper, clean/dry floors, soap for washing hands.
   Japan's typical toilet: toilet paper, clean/dry floors, soap for washing hands, special toilet bowls.
   What I experienced in Korea: toilet paper, soap for washing hands.
   
   Two complaints I have regarding toilets today, though not representative of every other toilet, are
   1) This toilet at the Zara building at Myeong Dong had a really dirty floor with footprints all over.
   2) This other toilet at a restaurant at Insadong had graffiti scribbled all over the cubicles. Well, since it was a small restaurant, maybe this isn't really unexpected. But...
   
   I was at the Korea Folk Museum at the palace when I overheard some people complaining in the toilet about how someone had relieved herself in such a way that left the toilet seat in an unsightly manner. T.T Where is my Japan toilet???
   
2. Tour guide in Japan v Korea
   I'm usually on free-and-easy for trips to Japan, but occassionally, we got a tour guide to show us around. I remember two, one for Tokyo and one for Osaka. The one in Osaka was full of smiles and he said that Tokyo ones aren't so lively. Which turned out to be true after we went over to Tokyo. The Tokyo one wasn't as warm and friendly.
   
   However, today, in Seoul, we met an even less frienly tour guide. It's not that she was rude or anything. She was just....cold...maybe it's because of the weather? She didn't smile at all, throughout the trip! In fact, there were a few times where I thought she was frowning. In addition to that, service standards. She was always sms-ing and walking around by herself. There was once where we had dinner at BK, and she just disappeared for a whole 5~10 mins, without telling us where she went. Basically, she's not as good as those we had in Japan.
    
3. Driving in Japan v Korea
   We experienced our share of traffic jams in Japan, but everything went on very smoothly, in an orderly manner. Today, we experienced jams throughout the day and those jams changed my mind about driving should I get to go on exchange to Yonsei. The driving here is crazy. Cars and buses (buses especially) cut into our lane very abruptly, and it was always a matter of inches before they knocked into the side of our van. Horns, which seemed to serve little prupose in Tokyo, could be heard everytens of minutes. Very seldom do I see people giving way. As reflected in the 'pushpushpush' incident, it seems that Singaporeans' unique kiasuness can be found here. Really, if you gave way, most likely you'll find yourself stuck at the same spot for a long while.
   
4. Food in Japan v Korea
   If seafood can be found at almost every table in Japan, beef can found at almost every food item in Korea. Ok, this may be a little exaggerated, but really, beefs everywhere! Although I have nothing against beef, the rest of my family can't eat beef...and so we always had to check before we enter a restaurant.
   
   I didn't really like Korean food because I had the impression that it was all spicy. Well, many Korean food are spicy, but we ate bibimbup today and requested for the spicy sauce to be removed. And so, that became my very first Korean dish! It was quite delicious, surprisingly. =D

I'm on my very own free-and-easy tomorrow, and so I'm planning to return to Myeong Dong tomorrow! Will prepare myself for the extreme coldness and wear a few more layers. Gosh, that means 4/5 layers! I saw alt of things there yo, something like HK's Mongkok. And then I saw like 3 Hallyu stores which I must go, to search for YB stuff!

To end off, the most irritating thing that happened today didn't involve a local. It involved a bunch of Mainland Chinese. We were at the Korean Folk Museum when this group of Chinese tourist started pushing their way towards the exhibits to take photos. It was really irritating because I was standing quite at the front when someon puhed past me to stand in front of me. So, I moved a step back. And then another pushed past me again. And again. And again. In the end I decided to just  stand by the side till the group left and to continue after them. Rude. Pure rudeness. Are they rushing to get reborned?

翔ちゃんだ！

It's Sho-chan~!

Last year it was Jun ne

Omedetou to Sho-chan~ ^^

http://www.gqjapan.jp/event/menoftheyear2009/

awwwwwww...

see it.. believe it =]

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GQ men of the Year 2009

source site

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Pre-order GQ JAPAN 2010.02 at AMAZON.co.jp

2009.12.22 release

Greetings, dear readers.  I hope you are well.

I had a couple of vertebrae fused last October, and so I've been away on a health sabbatical of sorts.  The cold weather is not helping!  I feel so odd saying that I will welcome some warm temperatures again, especially after we got some lovely snow in my home area last weekend.  But when you have metal in your body, or nerve damage, or both, you start feeling the barometric changes more.

I wanted to take a moment to share some other music blogs I have been reading here at VOX.  I promise I will be back with more music, including 2NU's last offering.  (Who is 2NU?  Stay tuned...)  But until then, allow me to share some other blogs of interest, including a side project of mine.

Burl Veneer’s Music Blog

Burl Veneer’s blog was spotlighted at [music is good] recently, with his observations on genre labels as a guide to exploring music, particularly with spiritual jazz.  It's a retrospective look; according to his profile, he is "recapturing the thrill of [his] college radio years, on a smaller scale." It's a very nice sentiment for those who have become rather jaded with corporate/mainstream music as of late, and are still looking back to younger days when one's music experience was more visceral.  I don't mean to say that such leads to an abandoning of new territories in listening opportunities, but for those of us who have outgrown commercial markets and are generally exasperated with what's on the radio airwaves, there is a shift in perspective, is there not?  I remember that for myself, I went back for a time to what I had discovered musically in eight long years of college and university and when I had expressed similar thoughts.

(On a side note, it seems to me that many of the resources I looked at when writing reviews here seem to be very similar to what friends of mine looked at writing for university and college publications, or what they played for college radio.  But I digress...)

Those that have followed my reviews here know that I'm a big fan of mashups and bastard pop.  It's always been a satirical commentary for me, in some part, on how the commercial industry likes to come back to familiar hooks and "radio-friendly" licks-- how else can two or more songs, especially when they seem so radically different, come together?  They can come together, all right, in a rather slick way that can express an entirely new idea that is different from the sum of the mashup's parts.

Mashup Fans

Mashup Fans is one VOX group devoted to the mashup genre.  For a time it was active, but sadly, due to recent inactivity ( it appears to have succumbed to the splogger disease that has been infecting VOX like a cancer.  If you stick to the Media section, however, you'll find some great mashups and other mixes.  Do me a favor, if you're a mashup fan, won't you?  Go see if you can turn the tide.  Upload some stuff and send Darren a message to see what you can do to revive the group.

Monday Monster Mashup

Monday Monster Mashup is my side project.  When I started the group, the idea was I would post something every Monday, although clearly, I haven't kept it that regular as of late.  I've included video mashups that accompany mashup tunes whenever possible, although there are some obstacles.  Since Warner Media Group has been throwing its weight around like a 800-lb. gorilla, some of the YouTube videos I've been using have been muted or audio swapped.  I don't think this bothers many mashup artists too terribly much; the savvy ones cover their buttocks by urging listeners to support the original artists.  Even if they don't make such a noble token gesture, most see the genre as transitory-- if the corporate suits kill a work on grounds of copyright infringement, they will have moved on to something new anyways.

Bootlegs and Mashups

BOOTLEGS and MASHUPS is more oriented to bootlegs, according to the description, although, really, I'm not sure what the focus is right now.  If you can follow the rambling posts of late, you're doing better than me.  Anyways, two of the hosts, moien and Ground Countrol To Major Tom, run music-oriented blogs in French, and it turns out there is a sizeable community of French-speaking music bloggers here at VOX.  The following are written in French, unless otherwise specified:

• 

  blog de The Dude
  The Dude’s Blog (Blog de The Dude) has a general focus-- nothing too specific, but that's fairly within the spirit of things at W♥M-- write about what you like.  Obviously, his username is taken from The Big Lebowski, which was referenced by Vu in Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).  His latest post covers his album picks for 2009.
• Aurelio’s blog is a little more general than even that--"Un cocktail de musique, ciné, bouquins, bonne bouffe et rigolade" (A mix of music, film, books, good food, and comedy).  He hosts Albums 2009, so some of his latest posts have also been about his selections of music in 2009.
• niggytardust writes in English and French, so if you don't speak/read/write French, you have an English option.  More of a rock focus.
• Ground Countrol To Major Tom focuses on new artists and independent music.
• Music Is My Radar is written by moien

There are probably some ones I'm forgetting to mention, but I trust that you may explore their Neighborhoods and discover more.
 

Novelty Records

Novelty Records is hosted by W. B. Mook, who wrote reviews for W♥M for a time.  You know what "novelty songs" are, right?  Sure you do!  If you don't, according to Wikipedia, it's a genre of music that was coined in Tin Pan Alley to describe a division in popular music that started in 1910 and continued in the '20s and '30s.  But to put it more simply, the term includes most anything that has been classified as parody or comedy music.  In short, it's just about everything that Dr. Demento has spun on his radio show-- you know, that funny-looking bearded guy with the top hat that helped launch Weird Al Yankovic's music career.  (Look for him-- Dr. Demento, that is-- in his music videos and the movie UHF.  Have a Twinkie weiner sandwich while you do so, okay?  It's good, but not like Yappy's Dog Treats-- I promise!)

So there you have it.  I'm probably just scratching the surface, but most of these bloggers and Vox Groups specifically mentioned (if not all) have contributed to W♥M in some form or another, so have a look around.

 12/15/2009 23:56:22 ♥ jaklumen ( / jaklumen.vox.com)

omggggg XD had the perfomances playing in my ipod today cause i just cant get enough LOLOLOL.. insanee!!! i almost forgot how much fun it is to stick files into my ipod and make it more than just a music jukebox XD hahahah (i know.. i'm living proof of technology abuser LOL) i mean i watched it yesturday on uber LQ and i was high.. hahaha so yeah.. imagine what i am now after watching decent quality files HAHAHAHAH let's just say i'm quite literally.. giddy hahahahaha (i'm still confused at Nino's pants in Believe though.. and MJ's pants in the melody.. they look very amusing when you can actually get a good look at them lols.. amusing as in.. intriguing amusing XD) kyaaaaaaaa and goodness i thought i was already like gaga from yesturday but DID YOU ALL SEE TODAY'S WIDESHOW ON ZOOMIN??? *rolls on ground* i think i'm gonna dieeeeeeeeeee.. i think i did!!!! and went to heaven!!!!! RAWRRRRRRRSSSS..

that being said.. T_T please someone show me the way to downloading today's ZOOMIN!! PLEASE!! omgggg need to have ittt!!!!! neeeeeeeed neeeeeeeeed neeeeeeeeeeeeeeed T_T!!!

yo!! genki ka? lols...

ha~~ after SPM..i decided to take a rest for this month...no nothing!!
im doing chores at home as much as Jaejoong is at his place..
rearranging everything just as SHINee's Minho at SHInee's place XD..

ha~~ tired..

yeah! Anako's sister is getting married this Saturday!! i cant wait!
i would to study as hard as her!

im currently listening to THSK's Summer Dream! XD

yeah..

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YunJae3

alright!! prom night is near!!..n i was a lil surprised that ill be going as a duo with a boy...haha i asked em first actually..cos..well for fun XD..but ill drag ANAKO along XD...so itll be Trio!! hahahah..im gonna drag you along Anako...really i am..=_=''..

ja~~ owari!!

oh yeah!! Zakura is going tp Japan next 2 weeks!! or next week..im gonna sk him to buy me this!

211jecg

ja~ owari

lols..i know ive seen this pictures like a billion times..but i still wanna post them! hahaha

07

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Official calendar 2009.42

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Official calendar 2009.24

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lols...i post the wish on my FACEBOOK...but forgotten to put it in my blog!

gahh!
Happy 23rd birthday Junsu oppa (TVXQ)
may God bless you!!

Frapbois010

pls stay as a group!!
dont cari pasal that much!!
theres no TVXQ without you Junsu oppa!!!

good luck in your 'BREAK OUT' MV shoot in Japan!!

we Casseis will be waiting everyday for TVXQ n will cheer your new single on the 27th January 2010!!

ALWAYS KEEP THE FAITH

Another funny snippet from the latest staff book~

So the boys had a gathering at Leader's hotel room at night when they held concerts at Fukuoka Dome

They were very high and started to order alcoholic drinks, eg champagne, wine, through room service

The next day when they check out, when Leader saw the hotel bill, he had a big shock O_O

100,000yen!!

Besides the room charges which was paid for by staff, other services which the boys used had to be paid by themselves

So because they had the gathering at Leader's room, of course the bill was charged to his room

Leader was at a lost and the hotel staff was also quite lost

Then Jun appeared and asked what happened

Leader told Jun the bill came up to 100k yen and guess what Jun said

"That's cheap"!

Leader got another shock because that was not what he had expected to come out from Jun's mouth

Jun explained to him that they had ordered few bottles(3-4) of champagne and wine and 100k yen is considered cheap already, if compared to outside

So Jun told Leader to quickly pay up since it was so cheap *LOL*

Poor Leader, had to fork out 100k yen

And when the start of the Dome tour, Leader had ordered the other boys to have a gathering at HIS room each time

Oh No!!!

hahahaha