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since 14th July 2008

Shinee Girls?

Thursday, July 31, 2008 ( 12:36 PM )

OMO. Don't these girls look familiar? Don't they look a little manly despite the feminine uniforms and girly hair wigs adorned with CHO-Kawaii hairbands? Oh wait, I can't see any lady lumps on their chests! Grr..."shivers"

This is the Shinee (pronounce as SHINY rather than Shi Ne which means die in Japanese) boy band, the boys who sang "Nunna is very pretty" and danced really nimbly to their debut single. To be honest, they all look like ba po except for the mushroom head ~~boy~~ girl. Ah..so this is how Shinee garner attention and new fans by cross dressing. It's really a joke. I don't see how their "prettiness" is able to impress and win over the hearts of the male audience, or maybe it's just me being biased or jealous that mushroom head ~~boy~~ girl looks better than me.

Labels: Shinee

Hwan Hee's Plastic Look

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 ( 12:44 PM )

Korea's Fly To The Sky R&B duo has been around the industry since 1998. Most celebrities would get plastic surgery before they debut and some of them aren't shy about their plastic adventures. Hwan Hee, or better known as Fany or the better looking lad, had plastic surgery done to his eyes and his nose. Hwan Hee admitted to the national TV on Ya Shim Man Man that he went under the knife because he always had a complexity about his looks.

Check out my new lid folds and nose!!

The Old Me

I must admit that Hwan Hee looks even better after his plastic surgery and his fans just adore his new plastic look saying that he looks so pretty nowadays. Anyway, here are some snips taken by a fan who bumped into Hwan Hee who was alone while riding the escalator. Hwan Hee was gracious and game enough to pose for this fan. Nah, he probably just wants to show the whole world how happy he is with his new nose and eyes.

Labels: Hwan Hee

Crystal Kay

Monday, July 28, 2008 ( 1:02 PM )

Crystal Kay who is half-american, half korean is back with her new Japanese Single titled "ONE". The song will be used as the theme song for the upcoming Pokemon movie. I have heard all the tracks on the single and thought it was really nice and catchy. Totally my kind of feel. Anyway, she will be releasing her new album "Color Change!" on 8th August. But I do not understand the frumpy purple flock that she is wearing, it doesn't accentuate her figure at all. The MV is alright, don't quite understand the balloon theme and pairings of pretty young girls in her video.

Labels: Crystal Kay

Lee Hyori Comeback!!

( 11:30 AM )

Lee Hyori won SBS's Inki Gayo Mutizen award just 9 days after her debut comeback performance. Mutizen is a mix of the words Music and Netizen. If you win the Mutizen award, it means you received the most votes by netizens on Inki Gayo's website.

It has just been proven that Lee Hyori is still the undefeatable queen of Kpop (even though rivals such as Suh In Young and Uhm Jung Hwa also rose to the occasion to challenge her throne) and still as hot as ever. Impressive feat for a 29 year old who managed to topple Uhm Jung Hwa right after calling it quits from Fin.k.l.

I somewhat preferred Lee Hyori's stage performance on KBS's Music Bank than on SBS's Inki Gayo, and it was impressive for her to change her clothes mid-way during the performance, until I realised that it actually wasn't possible to just change clothes mid-way without having to stop the filming of the live-performance.

Lee Hyori's Live Comeback on KBS's Music Bank.

Labels: Lee Hyori

Elly is Cinderella

Sunday, July 27, 2008 ( 12:56 AM )

Mushroom head babe, Suh In Young is the rage now in Kpop Kingdom. Maybelline's sales seen a ten fold increase right after Suh In Young became the ambassador for Maybelline's cosmetic products in Korea. This is a smart strategy to milk every cent of Suh In Young's fame while she is still young, hot and in demand. Anyway, She's back with her new single, "Elly is Cinderella". Suh In Young has a good voice and the single rocks my socks!!

In this video, In Young sports various rendition of the mushroom hairstyle and high waist pants/skirts. Her two Jewelry Sisters gave support as back-up dancers. I wonder how she always manages to wear these ridiculous stuff and still look so good. Suh In Young's fettish with high heel shoes has always led to her affectionate labeling of them (non living things, which make all women's toes hurt) "CHILDREN" and to the featuring of her children in her wedding photo shoot and MV.

Note: She looked so pleased when she was presented with her favourite "children" near the end of the MV and enjoyed doing the A Town sign~ (probably remembering her Ant Seo Bang, Crown J)

Now, who is more befitting of the Kpop Diva's title?
Is it Lee Hyori or Suh In Young? You decide.

Labels: Suh In Young

Monster Parent

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 ( 12:40 AM )

'Harried teachers take out 'monster parent insurance'

Look out, teachers, “monster parents” are loose in the community; you better get insured.

In fact, more and more teachers are doing just that, Yomiuri Weekly (July 13) finds. The first policy of the type the magazine wryly dubs “monster parent insurance” appeared in 2000. That year, it attracted 1,300 teachers. By 2007, the number of insured teachers had soared 16-fold, to 21,800.

“Monster parent insurance” is designed to protect a teacher against frivolous lawsuits by a growing number of parents who see cause for complaint everywhere and will sue at the drop of a hat. Once upon a time, teachers had dignity and parents kept a respectful distance. But the lofty social status once claimed by the profession has eroded steadily over the past 20 years. Now, says Yomiuri Weekly, when an irate parent marches into the classroom, the teacher cringes.

And who can blame him or her? What rational response, after all, can be given to a parent with a complaint like this one cited by the magazine: “Since the use of cell phones on school trips is prohibited, I expect the school to pay the portion of my child’s fixed monthly phone bill covering the time he’s away.”

We aren’t told how the teacher handled this, and there’s no indication this particular case ended up in court, but a lawsuit, though perhaps only an intermittent reality, is increasingly perceived as a perpetual threat, which is what insurance is for.

A standard “monster parent” policy, costing about 5,000 yen a year, provides coverage of up to 100 million yen, which gives an idea of the kind of compensation parents ask for when they take a teacher to court.

And what sort of classroom mishaps might get a teacher sued? Yomiuri Weekly cites some examples specified by a typical policy. Suppose, for instance, one pupil stabs another pupil in the eye with a pencil and the teacher finds himself accused of inadequate supervision. Or what if, on a class trip to a factory, a kid causes damage to the machinery? Or if sloppy paperwork on the school’s part damages a child’s eligibility for overseas study? The possibilities are endless.

“It’s a sign of the times,” Yomiuri Weekly remarks, “that disputes which people used to be settle by talking things over among themselves now end up in court.”

No wonder teachers walk on eggshells—especially teachers in private schools. Parents who pay high fees to get their children educated have correspondingly less tolerance for anything going wrong.

One skeptic is Hosei University Prof Naoki Ogi, introduced by the weekly as “well-informed on the ‘monster parent’ problem.”

The threat of lawsuits hanging over teachers’ heads “causes relations between parents and teachers to deteriorate,” Ogi says. “Take a teacher to court, and the teacher will say whatever has to be said for the purpose of self-defense. That means he’ll lie if necessary. And what does this do to the children involved? They learn that teachers can’t be trusted. Parents and teachers seem to forget,” he concludes, “that the children are the most important” actors in this drama.

Credits from "http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/harried-teachers-take-out-monster-parent-insurance"

Hell.. if parents in Singapore reach that level of absurdity in Japan.. I will NEVER consider a teaching career with MOE. Hands down to support Cookie Monster over Monster Parent.

U Go Girl

Thursday, July 17, 2008 ( 10:39 AM )

In an attempt to dispel the claims of plagiarism, the newly released MV of U GO GIRL seems to have no traces of the "copycat" scenes that were released earlier in the teasers.

Well, it's splendid! Hyori, U go girl!!

U GO Girl Full MV

Labels: Lee Hyori

It's Hyorish

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 ( 11:47 AM )

Princess Lee is back with her highly anticipated 3rd album, 'It's Hyorish'. YES. Interesting name. However, plagiarism seem to plague Lee Hyorish whenever she releases her albums. She has been accused by the Korean netizens for imitating Christina Aguilera's Candyman for her "U Go Girl MV" after spotting some similar sceneshots during some side by side comparison of both MVs.

Even her “It’s Hyorish” album cover bears an uncanny resemblance to a Japanese t-shirt that has Japanese actress Aki Hoshino on it.

It isn't the first time that Princess Lee has been accused of plagiarism. During the release of her 2nd album, "Dark Angel", the songwriters of Britney Spears' Single "Do Somethin" accused Hyori's songwriters of her single "Get Ya" in February 2006. It seems that Princess Lee enjoys riding on other peoples' coat tails and taking credits for the originality that she is lacking in. But then again, such controversy would probably help to boost Lee Hyori's popularity by piqueing people's curiousity.

U Go Girl Teaser

Candy Man

Labels: Lee Hyori

June

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 ( 12:35 AM )

June, one of the relatively new artist in the Japanese Music scene, rocks my world. When I first heard his single "Pride of Tomorrow" as one of the ED single in D.Gray Man anime, I knew I had to find out more about the singer.

JUNE first began to sing for himself during his second year of intermediate school. After being told by his friends that he was bad at singing, he practiced for two years until, finally, during his first year of high school, he was able to move his friends to tears with his singing.

At the age of 17, JUNE recorded a cover of Musiq's "LOVE" for a demo tape. This song reached the ears of famed R&B producer Matsuo "KC" Kiyoshi, who then flew to Korea to meet JUNE. In order to prepare for a debut in Japan, JUNE studied Japanese for a year. He made his major debut under SONY in November of 2006 at the age of 19.

Info from Wikipedia.

His latest R&B offering, I.L.X. (though a tad too sexualised) rocks my world. I enjoyed all the 6 tracks in his mini album and hope you like them too. IMO, I think the I.L.X. will fare better without his MV, it looks weird.

I.L.X.

Labels: June

Jam Hsiao

( 12:20 AM )

Jam Hsiao 蕭敬騰 is another one of my favourite singers from Taiwan. He appeared in 超級星光大道 as a PK contestant and rose to fame shortly after winning Aska Yang in one of the PK rounds. He is widely known for his unique voice and wide vocal ranges and has collaborated with Taiwanese Diva Ah Mei in "一眼瞬間" which really blew me off. "原諒我" reflected some of the emotions that I had in the past and I think it was wonderfully sang.

一眼瞬間

原諒我

Labels: Jam Hsiao

林宥嘉

( 12:01 AM )

"林宥嘉"

Does this name sounds familiar?

He is also known as Yoga Lin, a newcomer to the Taiwanese Music Industry, who is the widely acclaimed winner of 第一季超級星光大道, a popular reality TV cum singing competition. I think he looks meek and is really shy when he goes to attend variety shows but he is definitely a talented person as he attained five rounds of perfect scores (20 & above) continuously during the competition, which is still an unbeatable record up to present.

In his latest album, "神秘嘉宾", I find majority of his ballads really pleasing and meaningful and I personally favour "伯樂". After Julius asked me what is "伯樂" during our weekend KTV session, I went home and asked my mom. Her explanation was that "伯樂" is someone who recognizes a talented person and him the opportunity to showcase his talents to the world. I am starting to realize the beauty and wittiness of the Chinese language, ever since my trip to Taiwan.

伯樂

Labels: Yoga Lin

PHEW~

Monday, July 14, 2008 ( 7:19 PM )

Tada!! A new blog layout. I spent almost the entire day just trying to find the right blog layout and making all the necessary changes to it. I'm pretty fussy about stuff generally, which explains why I took so long... Tiring sia...

Oh, i finally made the switch to Imeem's music playlist and I love it! The songs I have selected are by my favourite singers. Well, I may probably change the songs or update the playlist from time to time. So, hope you enjoy the songs, especially songs by June. I will prolly do a writeup on June. Amazed by his vocals.

Yaya, i'm sorry, I haven't been updating my blog and I didn't even bother to upload pictures from my Taiwan trip. haha. Later lah. Hee....Okie, I'm off for dinner~

uhm jung hwa-disco

Sunday, July 13, 2008 ( 2:01 AM )

Korean's Madonna, Uhm Jung Hwa revives the 80's look, favouring the loud candy coloured tops and neon-lit backgrounds. Pink lipstick, exaggerating fake eyelashes and the retro bob wig somehow succeeded in making her look younger by 10 years (she is 37 yrs old loh).

Looks aside, I think Uhm Jung Hwa's vocals are actually quite weak and I wonder how she managed to survive in the entertainment industry as a singer for all these years. Her new single "DISCO" features TOP from Big Bang, who looks sleek and yet greasy with his new hairdo.

Labels: Big Bang, TOP, Uhm Jung Hwa

Brown Eyes-Don't Leave

Thursday, July 03, 2008 ( 10:30 PM )

The latest single by Brown Eyes (Korean Group of cos) is wonderfully sang and the MV has an arty farty feel to it. However, it didn't fail to deliver a sense of eeriness when the possessive male lead refused to let his girlfriend go..and also, when the ventriloquist doll mouthed the words "Kajima" which means "Don't go" which was so high pitched that the hairs on my arms stood up on their ends. Scary, but it is a good song to listen to.

Labels: Brown Eyes

rain?

( 10:18 PM )