Tag: It’s Okay to Not Be Okay

The Wednesday Five: K-Dramas I’m Thankful For

Posted November 23, 2022 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

I’m a list person. I have a list for every single thing in my life from a to-do list, a list of books that I want to read, a running shopping list, and in the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing different k-entertainment lists that I’ve been keeping track of. You’ll be seeing my top 5 lists of stuff like my current celebrity crushes, my favorite k-drama female protagonists, my favorite k-drama male protagonists, my to-be-watched k-dramas, and you know, stuff like that.

It’s Thanksgiving week here in the U.S. and this week’s Wednesday Five will feature the K-Dramas I’m Thankful For. These dramas are special to me in one shape or form.

1. Itaewon Class

Starring: Park Seo Joon, Kim Da Mi, Ahn Bo Hyun

I feel like I talk about this drama a lot but it really can’t be helped. I’m grateful that I watched Itaewon Class because it introduced me to the world of Korean Dramas. It was my first one and you never forget your first one. This drama was such a great introduction and I’m a massive fan of all things K-Dramas now because of this show.

2. Goblin

Starring: Gong Yoo, Kim Go Eun, Lee Dong Wook

I’m super thankful for this show because it made me take notice of Gong Yoo and introduced me to Kim Go Eun. I saw Gong Yoo in Train to Busan first but I spent so much of that movie wanting to smack some damn sense into him that I didn’t fully appreciate how beautiful he was. LOL. No, but for real. When I watched him in this show, I was drooling all over the place. I was also ugly crying too. This man is fine as hell and made this show for me.

3. Dear My Friends

Starring: Go Hyung Jung, Kim Hye Ja, Na Moon Hee

Some of my favorite stories are stories that really make me sit up and take stock of my own life. Stories that make me reflect on how I’m living my life right now and if I’m doing all that I can to live a happy and healthy life. This was one of those dramas. Watching this drama made me miss my Mom and worry about my Dad. It made me want to be a better daughter and be more present in my Dad’s life. It made me want to treasure each day that I still have my Dad in my life and I’m thankful for that.

4. It’s Okay to Not Be Okay

Starring: Kim Soo Hyun, Seo Ye Ji, Oh Jung Se

I hadn’t intended to watch this drama. The dark theme and the female lead didn’t interest me at all but holy cow am I glad that I watched it. This was another drama that had me deep in my feelings and made me see things from several different perspectives and the life lessons that I learned from watching this one were such good lessons to learn. I’m grateful for each lesson, too.

5. My Mister

Starring: IU, Lee Sun Kyun, Park Ho San

This drama was my introduction to IU. I adore her to pieces so that alone would make me grateful but it was such a great drama as well. This is probably one of the dramas that cemented my love for all things Korean dramas. The overall story being told is woven so well and the emotional pull this one had on me was pretty great. I absolutely adore this drama and am so glad that I watched it.

What are some Korean Dramas that you’re thankful for?

0 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Wednesday Five: Favorite Dramas on Netflix

Posted July 13, 2022 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

I’m a list person. I have a list for every single thing in my life from a to-do list, a list of books that I want to read, a running shopping list, and in the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing different k-entertainment lists that I’ve been keeping track of. You’ll be seeing my top 5 lists of stuff like my current celebrity crushes, my favorite k-drama female protagonists, my favorite k-drama male protagonists, my to-be-watched k-dramas, and you know, stuff like that.

This week’s Wednesday Five will feature My Favorite K-Dramas on Netflix. These are the k-dramas that I watched on Netflix and enjoyed so much that I kept right on watching k-dramas, leaving most everything else behind.

1. Itaewon Class

My Drama List | Netflix
Starring: Park Seo Joon, Kim Da Mi, Kwon Na Ra

This is the drama that started it all. I didn’t used to be a person that went outside of my comfort zone and try new things. I liked what I liked and never really cared about anything else. I also wasn’t someone that cared for subtitles. Why watch something with subtitles when there were plenty of content that I could consume in my own language? But when my nephew coaxed me into trying this one since I watched and loved Train to Busan, I did so very hesitantly. That first episode turned into the second episode, turned into the third episode and the very next day, I was done and wanted another. There wasn’t anything that I didn’t love about this show, with the exception of the Jang family. I hated them and come to think of it, I still hate them. Damn assholes. But yay for Team Sae Royi.

2. Our Beloved Summer

My Drama List | Netflix
Starring: Choi Woo Shik, Kim Da Mi, Kim Sung Cheol

I adored this show from beginning to end. I love me some Choi Woo Shik and thought he did Choi Woong’s character justice. I loved the pacing of this drama, from the romance to everything else going on, it was just all well done and exactly my vibe. I waited anxiously each week for the new episodes and in the end, I was completely satisfied with everything. I was sad that it was ending but I was more happy that I was part of the journey. I especially loved V’s song for this show. So, so good.

3. A Business Proposal

My Drama List | Netflix
Starring: Ahn Hyo Seop, Kim Seo Jeong, Kim Min Gue

As a huge fan of romance and the two main leads, I went into this one happily. There wasn’t much that I didn’t enjoy about this one but for me, it was the secondary romance that lit me up like the fourth of July. The humor, the characters, and both of the romances made this such a fun ride. Everything about this drama is everything that I love in a drama so of course this is on my top k-dramas.

4. It’s Okay to Not be Okay

My Drama List | Netflix
Starring: Kim Soo Hyun, Seo Ye Ji, Oh Jung Se

This drama is a lot different from what I normally like. I prefer light and fluffy over dark and heavy but this one??? Yeah, this one just hit different. Every single episode felt like a season finale and every episode had me ugly crying when that song played. You know which song I’m talking about. Breath by Sam Kim came on and I was already sitting up, getting ready to bawl my eyes out. This drama pulled at my heart strings, broke my entire heart, but the ending put me all back together again, nice and right. This is one of my all time favorite k-dramas. Just so damn good.

5. Racket Boys

My Drama List | Netflix
Starring: Tang Jun Sang, Son Sang Yeon, Choi Hyun Wook

This is one of the most wholesome ass shows that I’ve ever watched in my life. I loved everything about this show and when they took a break in releasing new episodes, I didn’t know what to do with myself. This was one of the highlights of my week when it was airing new episodes. I’m so glad that I watched this show. It introduced me to new actors that I have come to love and it entertained the socks right off me every week. I love this one to pieces and I probably always will.

What are some of your favorite k-dramas on Netflix? Share in the comments!

0 Comments
Tags: , , , , , ,

Eye Candy Friday: Moon Gang Tae

Posted October 23, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

Eye Candy Friday is something that I’ve been doing since I first started my personal blog way back in 2003. That first personal blog is long gone but I’ve never really grown out of the eye candy phase. I’m always up for some eye candy. Whether it’s a character from a book (male or female, I don’t discriminate), a character from a movie or TV Show, if I loved them and want to gush about how much I loved them, you’ll find them here. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

This week, I’m featuring Kim Soo Hyun as Moon Gang Tae in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. Gang Tae was a very compelling character that I completely adored and ugly cried getting to know. He was like a single father who took care of his autistic older brother, Sang Tae. His Mom was a single mother and when she died back when Gang Tae was 10 years old, Gang Tae had to grow up and be the caretaker for the both of them. So they moved around a lot until Gang Tae was old enough to not be in the system anymore. He shouldered so much responsibility at a young age and spent his entire life living to take care of his brother. He never had a life of his own and nobody has ever cared enough to want to make him happy. Until Ko Moon Young came back into their lives.

He hardened himself against developing relationships because relationships came with more responsibilities and he had enough already. But man, seeing him fight his feelings for Moon Young and shoulder the burden of caring for his older brother all alone hit me every single episode. It was hard to see him push everyone away until there was only him and Sang Tae but he had a great support system in his squad that wouldn’t leave him alone and he had a great supporter in Moon Young.

He was also so stinkin’ gorgeous, I mean check it out…

This guy is someone you guys should know. He’s everything that we love in our heroes in our books and his story was equal parts heartbreaking and joyful. Gang Tae had me captivated from episode one and by the time episode 16 came around, I was a complete mess over this guy. Absolutely loved him. And that kiss in that last picture? MOOD!

Until next week…enjoy!

0 Comments
Tags: , , , ,

The Weekly Recap (148)

Posted July 27, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 4 Comments

This week has been one heck of a week. Exactly one week from finding out that my cousin’s husband died from COVID-19 and that my cousin herself was recovering from COVID-19, we found out that my best friend’s uncle died from COVID-19 too. That’s three cases that are near and dear to me. This shit is real, no matter how much the naysayers say it isn’t. It’s really frustrating to me to see all of these Facebook posts about COVID-19 being a hoax and we shouldn’t be forced to wear masks out in public because when the hell did all of these guys become doctors and nurses? Where did they get their medical degree from? Wear a damn mask or stay your ass home. Pick one.

My nephew Chase turned 18 on Saturday and poor thing, nobody was here to celebrate his becoming an adult with him. Just all of us old folks. So his birthday green wall were with his family but none of his buddies in his family were here. They’re all in Colorado and Utah. He’s trying real hard to get himself to Utah but unfortunately for him, it looks like he won’t be going up until we all leave for our family vacation in two weeks. Still, happiest of birthdays to Chase. He’s one of the good ones and he finished his Eagle Scout project so he’s officially an Eagle Scout. All of the blankets were finished and delivered and his Scout book is complete so he can move to Utah for school with the knowledge that he wrapped everything up here in California.

That’s about it on the personal front so let’s get into what I’ve gotten into this week…

What I’m Currently Watching

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay
Abyss

I was a bit busier this weekend than I normally am, so I still haven’t watched this weeks episodes of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay though I will be taking care of that today. I’m probably watching it when this post goes live and after last week’s episodes, I’m super anxious to get them watched. This show is so stinkin’ good.

I will also be starting Abyss today too. My girl Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is in this show and I’m low key interested because I’ve been seeing such great reviews of this show so I’m going to start it after I finish this week’s eps of It’s Okay to Be Okay. Wish me luck.

What I Watched

Suits | 4.5 out of 5
Be With You | 4.25 out of 5
W | 4.5 out of 5
Touch Your Heart | 3.5 out of 5

My favorite watch of the week goes to Suits. Even though I watched the American Suits from beginning to end and the Korean Suits was a remake of it, I still really enjoyed the slight differences that the Korean Suits made. I liked the American Harvey and Donna but Korean Mike Ross was the bomb. He absolutely made this show so much better than I was expecting. His Rachel was pretty awesome too. What surprised me with Korean Suits was how much more invested I was in the everyday business of the show. The romances were pretty much background noise to everything else going on but the main romance that we got was super sweet and though it ended on a hopeful note, I still appreciated having it included in the show. Korean Mike and Rachel were a great couple!

My least favorite watch of the week is one that I enjoyed but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the others that I watched. It was a bit on the cheesy side and the female lead was super extra and ditzy and I rolled my eyes so many different times throughout the entire season. That show is Touch Your Heart. I watched this show because I really enjoyed both of the main leads secondary romance in Goblin so I was happy to see them in their own show, front and center. Like I said, this was good just not as good as the others.

Eye Candy Friday

Kim Shin
Goblin

What I Reviewed

Parasite | 4.25 out of 5
Crash Landing on You | 4.5 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (147)
K Drama Check
Eye Candy Friday: Kim Shin

What Made Me Laugh

There you have it, my week in review. How was your week?

4 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

The Weekly Recap (147)

Posted July 20, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 6 Comments

The Weekly Recap is a weekly feature on the blog where I recap my week in books, in movies, and in TV Shows. If you’re ever curious about what I’ve been up to, these are the posts for you.

It’s been a pretty quiet week for me since Brenna’s been in Colorado for the summer and I don’t have anyone annoying me at every turn. It’s been nice. LOL. I also had some time to catch up with my siblings on Friday with my sister from Vegas in town. We received some bad news about my cousin’s husband, who died from covid-19 this week so that was a bummer. It’s amazing to me that people are pissed about having to wear masks in public here in California. SMH.

Anyway, I didn’t do much but watch Korean Dramas this week but it was still a good week.

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (147)Shine
by Jessica Jung
Published by Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse on September 29, 2020
Genres: Young Adult
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2020 Goodreads Challenge, 2020 New to Me Challenge

Crazy Rich Asians meets Gossip Girl by way of Jenny Han in this knock-out debut about a Korean American teen who is thrust into the competitive, technicolor world of K-pop, from Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of one of the most influential K-pop girl groups of all time, Girls Generation.
What would you give for a chance to live your dreams?

For seventeen-year-old Korean American Rachel Kim, the answer is almost everything. Six years ago, she was recruited by DB Entertainment—one of Seoul’s largest K-pop labels, known for churning out some of the world’s most popular stars. The rules are simple: Train 24/7. Be perfect. Don’t date. Easy right?

Not so much. As the dark scandals of an industry bent on controlling and commodifying beautiful girls begin to bubble up, Rachel wonders if she’s strong enough to be a winner, or if she’ll end up crushed… Especially when she begins to develop feelings for K-pop star and DB golden boy Jason Lee. It’s not just that he’s charming, sexy, and ridiculously talented. He’s also the first person who really understands how badly she wants her star to rise.

Get ready as Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of Korea’s most famous girl group, Girls Generation, takes us inside the luxe, hyper-color world of K-pop, where the stakes are high, but for one girl, the cost of success—and love—might be even higher. It’s time for the world to see: this is what it takes to SHINE.

I didn’t get any reading done this week. A couple of pages at most but I’m liking what I’m reading so far in Shine by Jessica Jung. Those K Pop stars are no joke and their schedules and training are intense. I’m really interested in seeing where this story takes us. I just need to make time to read.

What I Got

Shine by Jessica Jung
Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao

What I’m Currently Watching

It’s Okay to Not be Okay (2020)
Suits (2018)

This week’s episodes of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay were emotionally packed and I ugly cried through both of them. I am really, really loving this show and both Seo Ye Ji and Kim Soo Hyun did such an amazing job engaging my emotions with their acting skills that I am so here for the both of them. I cannot wait to see where the rest of the season takes us but if the first part of the season is any indication, it’s going to be a crazy ride that I am fully on board with.

I started the Korean version of Suits last night and I am super duper excited about it. I adored the American version of this show and the Korean version stars my #3 boo thang, Park Hyun Sik. I completely adored him in Strong Woman, Do Bong Soon and Juror 8 so when I saw that he was on the Korean version of Suits, I knew that I had to find the show and watch it wherever I could. I’m so glad that it’s on Netflix. I’m on episode 5 and so far, I’m really enjoying it. It’s very familiar to the American version but with its own Korean charm and I love me some Park Hyun Sik so I’m all in.

What I Watched

It’s Okay to Not be Okay (2020)
Cheese in the Trap (2016) | 2.5 out of 5
My First First Love (2019) | 4.25 out of 5
My First First Love 2 (2019) | 4.5 out of 5

This week was a good week in K Dramas for me….with the exception of Cheese in the Trap. That show started off so well for me and then it went downhill and kept right on going downhill until it ended and I was like WTF? Wasn’t a big fan of that of that one.

I did really enjoy My First First Love and My First First Love 2. I need to watch more shows and movies with Ji Soo in it. He’s such a delight.

Eye Candy Friday

Park Saeroyi
Itaewon Class (2020)

What I Reviewed

Movie Review: Train to Busan | 4 out of 5
Korean Drama Review: Itaewon Class | 5 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (146)
5 Things I Did During Quarantine
Eye Candy Friday: Park Saeroyi

What Made Me Laugh

6 Comments
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,