Perfumized!

Hi guys, how are you all doing? Anyway, I'm going home in less than a week
LESS THAN A WEEK!

My heart is constantly flip-flopping. Excited? Of course, but I still have many things to do prior to my departure, such as packing, although I don't really know what to pack aside of unused outfit, really.

Anyway, this week, Elda introduced me to a Japanese girl group called Perfume, consisting of A-chan (the youngest but she's the leader), Kashiyuka, and Nocchi. At first, their style kind of reminds me of typical Korean girl groups Wonder Girls or Kara. One thing you should know though, that Perfume specializes in Electropop instead of normal RnB dance song.
Well, the trio has an eyecatchy dance movements, like the tap dance in Nee PV and the 'walking' dance in Natural ni Koishite, as well as the eccentric video style they have in Fushizen na Girl.

The music style somehow brings me back to the good old days when I was still a huge fan of Jpop.

Check these videos out featuring my most favorite songs of theirs.

Nee (ねぇ)

Fushizen na Girl (不自然なガール)
Perfume - Fushizen na Girl (HQ)

Vezi mai multe video din muzica


Natural ni Koishite (ナチュラルに恋して)

the parade of good looking japanese boys

I'm currently taking a break from posting about Kpop :D
I'm feeling better today. My belly still aches but not as severe as yesterday. I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear more about me and my stupid stomachache that kept bothering me these two days.

Anyway, I believe I've mentioned that I'm currently on a long holiday (not really, it's actually 2 weeks off school before the classes start on September 20), plenty of time to spend at the bay area. When Elda and I are in the lazy "don't-want-to-spend-money-today" mood, even not strolling in this small town, we would always stick ourselves in front of each computers and tuning on Mysoju.com.

I'm telling you: that place is a paradise.
At least for those who love drama and for those who bother enough to buy the DVD series and prefer to watch'em online.

Good thing I've strolled from one drama to another in a quick pace and happened to spot these beautiful faces of the actors.

Here are some that I found the most handsome:

Mizushima Hiro

Mei-chan no Shitsuji is one of Jdramas that I've been watching these days. He plays as a high-ranked butler, Shibata Rihito, that serves the protagonist named Shinonome Mei. The way Mizushima's character delivers formal sayings or how he gestures are just melting. I also adore his smile, although it may not be as 'killing' as other actors, but still, he's got one sweet smile.
While taking a break of watching Mei-chan no Shitsuji, I switched to watch Tokyo DOGS, another series he participates in. It's quite a surprise how his character there is totally different from the calm butler Shibata Rihito.

Mayama Akihiro
He plays another butler in Mei-chan no Shitsuji called Aoyama, with a lower rank than Rihito's. Frankly I could hardly distinguish Aoyama and Rihito at the first time since they nearly resembled each other, except that Aoyama - since his rank is lower than Rihito's - tends to wear gray outfit instead of black. But until in one episode, where Rihito is seen to have been dueling with Aoyama, I could clearly see how Aoyama looks younger, cute, and fierce at the same time. I decided to spazz more on Aoyama since then though.

Haruma Miura
First spotted him in 14-Sai no Haha where he sort of played the father of the girl he impregnates. I haven't seen much of his character, but so far, he looks like typical of cute guys, not too cute but also looks fierce and serious at the same time (same thing goes to Mayama Akihiro)

Osamu Mukai
I've seen him act in two movies, Mei-chan no Shitsuji and Seigi no Mikata where he plays characters that makes a clear contrast against each other. In Mei-chan no Shitsuji, he plays the butler of Yamada Yu's character and apparently, an antagonist (sort of hate his white hair that doesn't match him obviously). In Seigi no Mikata, his character is simply admirable! Who doesn't adore a clean-cut handsome young working man with a golden heart? The way he handles his ill-natured love interest (again, played by Yamada Yu) cool headedly, his passion towards Yamada's character, towards Yamada's character's younger sister and their families, is just melting, which is why I think Mukai's character is officially the best ideal type of a husband one has ever seen.

Kanata Hongo

Watched him again in Seigi no Mikata, but I've spotted him twice in other projects such as his notable role as Echizen Ryoma. I'm quite surprised that he made his way to Western film industries through his role in 'Silk' where he plays a young servant who encounters his unfortunate faith later on in the story.
Lately I happened to find The Gospellers' new video featuring him. He sort of plays a young member of an orchestra with a specialty in clarinet.

Ryo Nishikido
A member of NEWS! Despite his serious looks, I figured that he could act funny as well along with the other members of NEWS.
Elda showed me this funny variety show featuring the boyband, where the members are asked to reveal their secrets and sometimes how they honestly feel to the other members. I'm quite surprised that Nishikido has a supporting role in Last Friends. His character is rather pathetic since he plays a rude boyfriend who doesn't stop abusing his girlfriend, but in the other side, his character is vulnerable too. Eh OMG, he's got a deadly look. X_X

Junichi Okada

He's got gorgeous eyes! Honestly I don't know much about him but again, Elda 'injected' me with this Jpop virus by showing me a video where Junichi was interviewed and asked what he'd do if he wanted to ask a girl out, but he put on that serious tone and said. "Can I have your phone number?" in a formal and monotone way.

I guess that's a wrap. Have a good day guys :D

when two worlds collide

So yesterday was my first meeting at a manga school in Jakarta since signing up for a photoshop class.

Before getting to the point, there are some things that you should know. You know what manga is, it's a form of comic originated from Japan before beginning to develop worldwide. Since the school itself was established by a Japanese, so you get the picture that everything in the classroom is dominated with all Japanese culture.

The place was peaceful though, with only a few quiet students scribbling their brush pens on a customized paper while the sensei (the Japanese lady that established the school) was explaining in front of the class with a sweet Japanese accent, and when she went out from the classroom for a minute or two, you'd hear her speaking in Japanese with a staff or on the phone.

Other things that complete the Japanese-ish vibe are Japanese songs played continously in the classroom (they even played Arashi songs!! How cool was that?), the Japanese magazines all over the places, with some Japanese-scribbled illustration works displayed in the wall.

Get the picture? Okay.

Anyway, you know that these days I've been really into Korean culture. It's been a while since I've kind of taken a break from listening to Larc en Ciel, NEWS, and Hey! Say! JUMP, apparently hypnotized enough by Kpop. So when I entered the classroom for the first time, I felt that my longing deep down moaned in satisfaction. I was like "Oh I miss these stuffs!".

With all thick Japanese vibe filling the room, I imagined that maybe the staff members and students are still fond of Jpop no matter how Kpop has widely developed. I thought I wouldn't bring up a question whether they like Kpop or not.

But not until...

The other class with whom I shared with was over, right before mine is too. So as the students were stepping out of the classroom, new ones entered - consisting of three teenage girls - and they were unexpectedly louder and noisier than the previous ones, who were effin' quiet. Guess what they were talking about...

(I write according to what I remembered, since I was working at my drawing at that moment)

Girl #1: "...oh yes, I know Dongho! From Ukiss right? He's such a sweetie!"

Girl #2: "Sure he is. Oh do you know Ukiss' song called Bingeul Bingeul? It goes like... *singing the song in Korean*"

My ears - unfamiliar to hear a foreign language spoken in such place - quickly perched up.

The girls entered the classroom and noticed me and my other classmate (of the same class) still working on our artwork. They went up to introduce themselves.

Girl #1: "Do you happen to like Kpop?"

Me: "Yes!" *surprised*

Girl #2: "Really?? What band then?"

Me: "I like all bands but my most favorite one is Super Junior."

*imagine seeing biased girls screaming and yelling when it comes to talking about their favorite artists. yep, that's what happened after that in response to my answer*

Girl #1: *taking a breath after screaming* "I can't believe!! Another ELF!! I met another ELF!" (ELF: Everlasting Friends or a name for Super Junior's fan)

Girl #2: "Which member is your favorite?"

Anyway the third girl is kind of quiet. So she just listened.

Me: "Kyuhyuuun!! *excitedly*"

*Another scene of screaming and jumping in excitement among these girls. I would call this situation as epic*

Girl #2: "Favorite pairing?"

Me: "Um...*I'm not getting used to picking my favorite pairings, but okay*
Kyumin - Kyuhyun and Sungmin (???)"

Girl #1: "Aww...too bad. I prefer Eunhae - Eunhyuk and Donghae - though."

Me: "They're fine too!"

Actually I wanted to mention something more about this Eunhae more and how Eunhyuk used to like Donghae for REAL years ago, but so little time we had since my class was almost over.

Sensei's assistant then came to us and happened to be involved in the conversation.

Sensei's assistant: "Ooh, you like Kpop too? I love Brown Eyed Girls, especially their Abracadabra song and their dances!"

HA! That place was unexpectedly dominated with Kpop fans, eh? Much to my surprise. I thought the girls coming and Sensei's assistant herself would be talking stuff like "Do you listen to Arashi?" or "Do you watch Dorama? Watch this anime? Read this manga?" Well, I didn't expect but I kind of hoped that the talk would at least support the atmosphere of the place. It was a place with strong Japanese vibe. Those kinds of talk would at least support it.

But then these girls just came up and finally, we ended up talking about our interests, which comes from Japan's neighboring country itself, Korea. We talked really loud after that, joined with sensei's hilarious assistant. The Arashi song playing softly in the background was slowly faded with our laughter and our Sorry Sorry singing.

I felt kind of awkward though, but all in all, it was a good moment of unexpectation and surprise.

Meeting Kpop fans is the last thing I thought would happen in that place, but well, a trend is a trend, and it's everywhere. Yes, I've met Kpop fans almost everywhere: in my jazz course, in my violin course, and also in my English course (though a friend of mine in my English course isn't too biased).

Thank goodness, Sensei herself was not at the classroom at that moment. She was outside for a moment or two. I imagine she would be like.

"What are you talking about?" ^^

私は日本と韓国の大衆文化を愛する。^__^
(trans=I love both Japanese and Korean pop culture)