My First Impression of Love Next Door Kdrama

 

Finally, the Kdrama that I've been looking forward to has finally been released. Jung Hae In and Jung So Min are coincidentally both my ultimate favourite actors in the Kdrama industry and the casting director might have just read my mind by pairing them up in this series. 

I would say that the premise of this drama - which is about the love-hate relationship between two childhood friends, or more accurately, frenemies - is something typical in the Kdrama scene. However, the scriptwriter must have added a twist by making both of them very successful in their respective fields, and having both mothers being good friends who like to compete with each other. 

I would say the premise reminds me a bit of Welcome to Samdalri with all this childhood friends theme and with the leading lady being away from home and the male lead being successful in his hometown but I hope this is where the similarities end. 

Dialogues are quite lengthy as the characters are chatty but good thing so far is that this part makes it seem realistic and shows you the dynamics between the characters. Chemistry between Seung Hyo (Hae In) and Seok Ryu (So Min) are just exceptional and natural that I am convinced that they are friends in real life lol. 

So far, I think this series looks promising. The bit about quitting your job without any backup plan just seems so relatable. Career break. When you hit your 30s, which is supposed to be your career peak era. 

Hope the subsequent episodes won't disappoint. 

To Watch or Not to Watch? Miss Night and Day

 

When I first came across this new Kdrama on Netflix, I was completely hooked. The plot seems interesting, the dialogues are funny and the casting is great! It has a combination of mystery and comedy (which reminds me of another Kdrama from Netflix, Behind Your Touch.) 

My favourite among the three main casts is Lee Jung-eun, the actress who portrays the older Lee Mi Jin. This endearing ahjumma appeared in many hit Kdramas, such as When the Camellia Blooms, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha and Daily Dose of Sunshine. 

I initially liked the fact that this drama is made up many interesting supporting characters, such as Lee Mi Jin's parents, portrayed by Jung Young-Joo and Jung Suk-Yong; Mi Jin's bestie who is an influencer who is portrayed by Kim A-Young; and the Kpop sensation, Ko Won, who is played by Baek Seo-Hoo. 

However, as the series progressed, to be honest, I could not help it but to be a bit bored with the slow pace of young Lee Mi Jin's scenes with the leading actor. Like, why are you so boring and awkward when you are with the guy that you like, Mi Jin? Initially, the chemistry was great but as it went on, I felt that they both kinda lost that chemistry? It was quite draggy at some points that I had to change the playback speed so that I could watch Lee Jung-eun's scene. For me, the scriptwriter could not be consistent in engaging the audience especially when it comes to Mi Jin's parts. It fell into the long list of Kdramas that I felt was interesting at first, but fell flat towards the end. I haven't even watched the ending even though it was already aired on Netflix as it has failed to hook me and arouse my curiosity. I think it should have been a 12-episode drama instead of 16.

In the midst of watching this drama, I could finish watching Daily Dose of Sunshine and Little Women and currently, I might finish The Green Mother's Club before dragging myself to finish the last 4 episodes of Miss Night and Day. 

Then again, I could be wrong. But for sure, I think, this is a light-hearted drama series which is watchable but you can speed up or skip some episodes and you won't miss much. 

Watching this drama is comparable to having a crush on someone who gives you a good first impression but fails to consistently live up to your expectations afterward.

My verdict? I would give it a B-, which is a 6 out of 10. 

Thank God for YouTube!

*Trying to remove rust from the blog* 

Guess I will be updating this blog on a yearly basis.

Colleagues/Friends are probably visiting another countries and doing something productive during the break while yours truly is savouring her home life. 

Been hooked on to Youtube and been streaming videos there.

From music videos, recipes, to some enlightening videos, you name it, I've watched it. 

 I would like to highlight this one amazingly talented Youtuber, Daniela Andrade. Maybe some of you have known her, but for those who haven't, you will be awed by her rendition of La Vie En Rose.  

A picture tells a thousand words, so I guess you have to multiply that one thousand with the duration of the video when it comes to watching a video? 

It is as good as Tracy's (from How I Met Your Mother) version , and I kinda prefer her rendition. Very soothing la her voice. 

Oh oh and I chanced upon this video of Sara and Bani's cover of Aubrey by Bread. Sara is one personality that I find charming. She and Bani really make a cute couple. ;)

 

Besides these two videos on music covers, there are some really enlightening videos on Youtube as well.

There was one tweethandle on Twitter who actually recommended this Youtube channel - The School of Life - and guess what, I found the videos really thought-provoking. I mean the videos posted by this channel mostly revolved around philosophy, psychology, history and some other topics along those lines. I guess it is because the founder of this channel, Alain de Botton is a philosopher. I like the fact that he turned all these big topics into something digestible and relatable to the bigger audience who might have no background knowledge in the things he discussed. Although he did get negative reviews, his channel is worth watching. I particularly like these two videos.

Who Am I - a video which discusses on what is your essence, or in other words, the things or qualities that make you, you. Is it your ability to dance, your appearance, your memory, or how you react to situations? 

Ha, intrigued already? Click on this video to find out more. 

Status Anxiety - a video which I think most millennials can relate to. Click, click!

There is one other Youtube channel worth checking out too - CrashCourse. Really useful for students who need to comprehend some lecture notes which are too long-winded.

Lastly, enjoy! Make sure you prepare coffee and snacks while streaming - you will be glued to the screen of your computer for hours. ;)

Updates

Omg I can't believe this blog has been on a hiatus for lol like... one year plus?

Well, i won't give reasons that i am too busy to blog, cause i used to be busy too when i was still studying, yet I was able to blog. It is all about making time and having the mojo to do it. 

Or perhaps it is because i have a new platform to ramble (dayre, fyi, which was on a hiatus for quite sometime too until recently lol). 

Oh well, this year has almost come to an end, and you know what, I kinda love 2015 so far because it is the year I made a few changes to my life. 

First, I moved to a new apartment. Lol. Although this apartment is not as nice as my previous one, I like the area cause it is near to Amway, Starbucks, Gurney Paragon and just a 15-minute drive from my workplace which saves me a lot of time. Just that I can't really cook at home cause, well, the kitchen isn't hygenic. I have to cook using my microwave oven for every single meal I have at home. 

Well, nothing is perfect right? Lol. At least the flaws of staying in this apartment is something that I am able to tolerate.

 Next... well I really love this one. I bought Juneer! (Fyi, Juneer is my car, whom i finally bought after suggestions and pesters from people around me! lol.) 

It wasn't an overnight decision to buy Juneer though it seems that way cause I never really told my friends that I wanted to buy a car. I wanted to win a car initially lol but with my luck with contests and lucky draws recently, I thought it was unwise to wait any longer lol so voila, I had Juneer. 

Although there are so many responsibilities and expenses that come together with the purchase of Juneer, well, to reflect, it is worth it cause right now I get to save time and I can also bring my family (come December), friends and relatives around when they come for a visit. Of course, I have to manage my finance now that i have a new baby to take care of.

Oh apart from these two big changes, i have registered for a gym membership. Lol i know right. I wasn't a gym maniac back then but because I got a really good deal, I signed up for it. And honestly, i never regretted my decision even once cause it kinda discipline me to a certain extent. I do hope this membership will help me to endure the other thing that I signed up for this year, which is lol Penang bridge full marathon (42 km man... I am not sure how i am going to survive, but well, since i paid for the registration already, i have to go for it). 

I guess these are the updates that I have so far. Will update this blog again another year? :P Ciao. 

For Now

I have never thought that I would end up doing what I am doing right now, you know, educating these youngsters as a profession. I was scared of speaking in public, speaking in front of audience in formal language, and I hated routine. I hated doing homework, but now I have to mark them, which is a lot more tedious than doing homework. When you signed up for this kind of profession, you know that you have to be more hardworking than you were as a student.

 Ironic, right?

 But then again, I am someone who always force myself to love what I loathe, and now as it turns out, I believe I love what I used to loathe.

As the Malay saying goes, Tak kenal maka tak cinta. I thought I loathe teaching because I thought I knew what it was like to become a teacher just because I was surrounded by teachers when growing up. Being a teacher for me was worse than being a student due to the heavy workload. Little did I know, I only knew what teaching is once I involved myself first hand in this profession, teaching the subject that I like. 

I love what I am doing now, seriously.

It was all thanks to that feeling you get...

* when you see your student paying attention to whatever things that you say (sometimes thoughtlessly).

* when your student greeted you sheepishly with a smile when running into you like you are one hell of a celebrity. 

* when seeing your students improve their writing and grammar after your serious warning. 

For now, this is what I am going to focus doing.

Later, maybe, maybe, que sera sera, I will make room for other passion that I have.