Thoughts on UKISS ♥︎

Many of you may have already read the recent news involving UKISS. I don't know where to start of if this post will be coherent but anyway it'll just be mostly my thoughts on UKISS and what they've been through.

First of all, I guess it's difficult being a celebrity in Korea. It's not uncommon to read that members are leaving a group, being added to a group, etc. And that's exactly what happened to UKISS.

Member Change

When I first got to know about UKISS, it was already during the Man Man Ha Ni stage when Kiseop was already added into the group in 2009. Before that, they made their debut in 2008 with six members - Soohyun, Kevin, Eli, Alexander, Dongho and Kibum.

In 2011, Alexander and Kibum left the group. There were many rumours regarding their departure. Some even were claiming that they were kicked out of the group and didn't leave voluntarily. Shortly after, AJ and Hoon were added in. People were wondering if the company wanted a different image for UKISS.

Honestly I was a little upset about this member change as Alexander was one of my favourite members. You would think that this was the end of the member change but soon after, Dongho leaves, AJ goes on hiatus and another new member Jun is added to the group.

That's really a lot of changes isn't it? I'm not sure if this is a case of bad management or just simply indecisiveness. Then again, NH Media have only been managing UKISS as their only group for some time.

Music Awards

Although I'd like to think UKISS's song were good, for one reason or another, they never made it to the top of weekend music show charts. There could be many reasons behind this. Then again it could be the result in bad management?

The company decides when a group would have their comeback and practically the whole album is decided by the company. So if UKISS's comeback period is alongside a really popular group, it would reduce their chances of getting noticed. I'm sure that there's actually a way or a method to make a group popular but maybe NH Media isn't that good with analysing the competition.

Another reason could also be that they planned their comeback purposefully with more popular groups so that if their song does well and manages to overtake the other songs, they'll be noticed. But it's really taking a risk.

For their latest comeback, I think they did quite well as they were nominated once on a music show. Comparing to previous years, I think that's quite an achievement. Maybe with their next comeback more people will take notice of them.

Recent Headlines 

UKISS have been in the headlines recently as well. Although Dongho left the group sometime ago, his marriage news was all over the news. I thought he left because he wanted to stay out of the media. Then again, there could have been other reasons why and how the news became publicised.

(Photo credit: Soompi)

Not much negativity resulted from this news since he isn't a part of UKISS anymore but I think people were mostly commenting on his age and why did he decide to get married so young. Dongho was born in 1994 making him only 22 in Korean years.

Anyway, moving on to the juicier news that caused quite a lot of shock - Eli's announcement.

(Photo Credit: Koreaboo)

Apparently Eli's married and his wife is pregnant. Eli secretly got married last year and he made the announcement that his wife is pregnant on his Instagram. He promised fans that this news would not affect his activities in UKISS.

I guess if we see it from Eli's point of view, he wanted to be open about his relationship so that he wouldn't have to hide when the baby is born. Also, he's already been married a year so eventually it'll be found out anyway. He probably didn't expect the negative response and if I'm not wrong he deleted all his SNS accounts. I don't blame him though, it's hard to be famous.

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This is just a short post on some of my lingering thoughts on recent UKISS related news. On the whole, I think they're a talented group that maybe doesn't have such good management and that can affect everything. People would have heard of UKISS but there's just this missing factor that's making them strike out. Hopefully they'll make it big one day.

Do note that everything written in this post are just my own opinions and thoughts. Feel free to share your thoughts and comments as well.

Jukebox #57 Sing For You ♥︎

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

It's probably way past Christmas by the time this gets published but there's 12 days of Christmas right? Haha. Convincing myself that this post isn't late. For this song review, a total of 57 people took part in the poll I posted on Twitter. And 12% voted for this song, making it the least popular song among the options. The other song has been popular for two weeks, so I'll review it next week, making it the last Jukebox song review for 2015.

For this week's song review, we have EXO's Sing For You from Sing For You - Winter Special Album, 2015.

I really love this song! It's another of those love on first listen kinda song. I totally shrieked when Chanyeol sang and then when Sehun sang it was like totally amazing! I guess every time EXO sings a slow song like this I get so impressed by their vocals I can't help but love the song ♥

I especially like the chorus. I think it really showcases the vocals of the singing line; Baekhyun, Jongdae, Kyungsoo. It's sung three times throughout the song and so each of the members has a turn to shine. However for this song, I think Kyungsoo's voice suit the part best, not that I dislike Jongdae and Baekhyun's voices. They have stronger vocals.

Initially I thought it was a sad song but it turns out to be somewhat comforting as well. If I'm not wrong the song is about a guy confessing his love through singing a song as he isn't brave enough to do so otherwise. So it may seem sad that this guy doesn't have the courage but he's ultimately brave enough to sing a song. Heh ☺

And EXO being EXO, they'll always release a Chinese version of the song as well. Nope, I'm not complaining.

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That's all I have for this week's song review! If you've been following the polls on Twitter, you would know what song I'll reviewing next weekend! ☺
Do check out last week's song review here!

Jukebox #56 I ♥︎

It's the weekends again! Time really flies and I feel like all I ever write are these weekend song reviews haha ☺

For the poll on twitter, it received 48 votes and 13% voted for this song, making it the less popular song! So it shall be the song I shall review and talk about this week.

It's none other than Taeyeon's I from her debut solo album I.

For a debut song, I think it did pretty well. I guess we can always expect such a response from SM artistes. They're always quite popular. With vocals like Taeyeon, her albums will definitely sell. For some reason, SM has people who have similar vocal abilities and sound. Maybe they have the same vocal trainer. But anyway, over the years I have grown more impressed with the vocal abilities of the Girls' Generation members, especially TaeTiSeo.

Not sure why but these solo debuts of Kpop group members are seemingly doing quite well. Not that I'm complaining but it's just quite surprising. SM should continue to have solo debuts for other artistes as well. I read that Tiffany is making her solo debut soon and I'm looking forward to it!

Anyway, back to the topic! Everyone was talking about Taeyeon's MV and how lovely it looks. Apparently, they went to New Zealand to film the MV! And Taeyeon's brother made a cameo in one of the scenes as well, that's pretty cool ☺ Also, many were commenting how pretty Taeyeon looked in the MV. Well, can't deny that she's gotten prettier over the years. And with light makeup on her flawless skin, she's definitely looking stunning against the backdrop of New Zealand's breathtaking scenery. And not to mention sheep. Life is a beauty. Indeed.

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That's all for this week's song review. It's a pretty short one but do take the time to check this song out if you haven't already done so! The polls have closed and the songs have been decided for song reviews for the next few weeks. Do check them out!
Do check out last week's song review here!

Have A Jolly Christmas with Althea ♥

Christmas is round the corner! I sure hope you've already done your Christmas shopping! If you haven't, I might just have the solution for you!

I'm not sure if you have heard of Althea. It is a website that sells Korean beauty products. These products are shipped directly from Korea so you don't have to worry about authenticity ☺

I chose to do some Christmas shopping on Althea mostly because I don't have time after work to head out and shop. Another big reason why I chose to do shopping on Althea would be their Christmas promotions and sales!

These promotions include:

1. Free Shipping with purchases above S$30 (Originally it's free shipping above $50)
2. S$7 off S$50 purchases with code XMAS-SG
3. Limited Edition Christmas Beauty Box (While stocks last)
4. Christmas sales and promotions on Althea Korea Singapore! (Including Christmas collection beauty items) 

I've tried shopping on other websites that sold Korean beauty products and in comparison, I found Althea's website rather easy to navigate!

This is their main page with simple navigation buttons to help you look for items easily. 

When you've chosen an item, you can add it to you cart with just one click. 

A pop up appears giving you two options. I quite like this feature as it simplifies things a lot!

The payment page is easy to navigate as well. The website itself helps you to save money by helping you use up your points first!

It's really quite easy to purchase things on Althea. They also have a section under your account that allows you to see what items you've purchased before and you can purchase those items again by adding them into your cart.

The whole ordering process seems simple and straightforward enough right? ☺

But nothing beats the happiness of receiving your package in the mail! 

If I'm not wrong, my package arrived about 5 days after placing my order. It was shipped via EMS from Korea and even so I didn't expect it to arrive before 7 days. So of course I was very pleasantly surprised!

The package was wrapped nicely in a pink wrapper labelled with an Althea Christmas sticker. It was delivered to my door so you don't have to worry about the postman mishandling it or stuffing it into your postbox.

Inside was the Althea box wrapped in bubble wrap. And ta-da! It's a Christmas box, specially designed for the Christmas season! I didn't order many big items so I received the small box which is red. The bigger box is green. 

Isn't it lovely? I wouldn't have minded getting the green box but I think I like the red box better ☺

They did not fail to leave out the pretty pink tissue papers! The items were also wrapped nicely in bubble wrap and it even came with a free Etude House mask!

I shall briefly list the items that I got and I'll do a future review on the items that I didn't get as gifts.

1. Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask
2. Innisfree Creamy Tint Lip Mousse 04 Spring Romance Peach
3. Missha Soft Blending Stick Blusher 02 Rose Pink
4. The Saem Cover Perfection Tip Concealer 2.0 Rich Beige

Aside from the Christmas promotions, Althea guarantees a best price match and also 30 days unconditional returns! Not only that, Althea has promotions for a wide range of products which would aid you in your Christmas expenditure! Who doesn't like sales and promotions right?

So those who need to get some Christmas shopping done, I highly recommend shopping on Althea! You can get Korean beauty products for a good price without having to travel to Korea! ☺

If you need recommendations or have questions, don't hesitate to ask 'em! I'll gladly answer your queries! And do stay tuned for more beauty product reviews coming soon! 

Jukebox #55 0330 ♥︎

According to the poll, 29 people voted in total and 45% voted for this song to be reviewed. It will be reviewed this week as it has lesser votes. If you're interested on voting, do check out the poll on my twitter every weekend ☺

This week, the review will be on UKISS's 0330 from their mini album Bran New Kiss.

I think this would be one of my favourite songs of UKISS other than Man Man Ha Ni. I probably like it also since it's somewhat my style of music. If you follow through all the song review posts, I prefer ballads ☺

The MV is a little abstract so I went to google for what it means. It basically just showing how a guy copes with his girlfriend's death. He tries to remember the times he had together with his girlfriend. With the help of his friends, he gets over it. I'm not sure if you're able to see the story line play out though, as it was a little confusing for me. Apparently they've released another MV focusing more on the drama aspect but there's not much of a difference.

Recently there has been a lot of hype about UKISS. While doing my research for this post, a lot of thoughts came to mind on these few issues. Initially I thought I'd write it here but there are some people who may just be interested in reading the song review so I'll be writing a separate post on it soon. Hopefully, soon ☺ 

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That's all for this weekend's song review! Hope you've enjoyed listening to this song and check back again next weekend got another song review! 

Laneige: Two Tone Lip Bar ♥︎

I don't know where to begin with this product. It's seriously my latest favourite lip product! I've been using it a few days in a row and that usually doesn't happen as I change my lippy colour almost daily when I do actually decide to wear something on my lips.

Laneige

Two Tone Lip Bar

06 Pink Step

I first saw this product on one of Jen (meejmuse)'s videos and it looked interesting. I wasn't going to get this product as Laneige products are usually pricier. However, there was a 1-for-1 sale on qoo10 so I got this together with my friend. Here's a description of the product from the Laneige website:

One lipstick Two colors

Create your own two tone mix with the artistic lipstick

We decided to get this shade as it seemed like the safest one. That's the problem with buying things online, you can't test the colours to see what suits you the most. But that definitely doesn't stop me from online shopping ☺

My Thoughts

I got this product in 06 Pink Step and it comes with 2g of product. The sale price was around SGD $19, I think it retails for slightly more. The packaging it slim and easy to carry around. Definitely handy for a quick touch up.

I thought it was pretty cool that it came in a rectangular shape. It became even cooler after applying it for the first time. Application was very smooth! The colour glides on easily and pretty evenly as well. The rectangular shape allows for you to darken any particular shade. Let's say if you want to make the darker shade more obvious, you can just use the corner of the dark shade and apply another layer. If you don't want the gradient effect, you also have the option of turning the lipstick and applying it so that the two colours blend together.

One product, so many ways of using it! ☺

As you can see from the photo above, this product is not very glossy but it's creamy. It feels very comfortable to have on the lips and it is not drying. It's pretty long lasting as well, even after eating there'll be some product left on your lips although the gradient wouldn't be that obvious anymore.

Most people would find it difficult to push the product out as the little lever is quite stiff. I think it's a good thing though as you know it wouldn't budge easily even if you keep it in your bag. Do take note, do not push the lever down when the cap is on. The product will get squished in the cap.

The Verdict

I definitely recommend this product! It'll be a very good Christmas gift ☺ I think it's really worth the price as you're paying for the quality of the product. Although I don't really have other Laneige products to compare with, I've heard a lot of praises about Laneige lip products. So I really hope you'll consider getting this for yourself or for someone else.

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That's all for this beauty product review! I do realise that I've purchased a lot of lip products recently. So you'll probably see more lip products review coming soon! Hope you've found this review useful and just in time for Christmas ☺

Jukebox #54 Happy Things ♥︎

This week I decided to do something different. If you've followed the weekend Jukebox posts, you would know that the songs I recommend are usually songs that didn't receive much attention or are new songs. The past few weeks I've been posting up a poll on my twitter account and people can vote for the song they want to be reviewed. I have been reviewing the song that received more votes. However, I think I should review the song that has lesser votes instead so that's what it would be like from now on ☺ Please do continue to vote for the song you want reviewed! The poll will be posted every weekend on Twitter at @fidfiefofum. 

With that, it brings us to this week's song review! It's J Rabbit's Happy Things!

Most of you probably wouldn't have heard of J Rabbit as they are an indie group and not the normal Kpop group. I found out about them through watching dramas. They actually sang a song in the OST of the drama I was watching. I think it was Operation Proposal and the song they sang for the OST was If You Love Me.

I fell in love with their vocals and musical arrangements. It's cool that they write their own songs and they get to perform in their own style unlike most Kpop groups where the style and music is decided by the company. I think what stood out most was the vocals. No doubt it's very high but so is my voice. Plus it's quite rare to hear a high voice like that in Kpop. They prefer like those rounded, powerful vocals or even those cutesy ones.

Not only that, the lyrics are meaningful as well. This song is about not forgetting all those little things that can make you happy.

I've been listening to a few other songs by J Rabbit and do expect another song review of another of their songs soon! ☺

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That's all for this week's song review! Do stay tuned for next week's!
Check out last week's song review here!

Drama Discussion: The Virtual Bride ♥︎

Decided to start watching this drama it was a public holiday for Deepavali. Drama watching is like considered a relaxing activity for me ^^

So the drama I watched, KBS's 별난 며느라 The Virtual Bride, also known as, The Eccentric Daughter-in-Law.

I was searching for a drama to watch and this plot caught my attention. But of course, I was more interested to see Dasom's acting too. The whole idea of idols not being able to act sort of piqued my interest to begin watching this drama.

The description on Wikipedia reads:

In order to boost her flagging popularity, former idol group singer Oh In-young (Kim Dasom) agrees to appear in a television reality show that pairs up fake mothers- and daughters-in-law. In-young's partner is Yang Choon-ja (Go Doo-shim), the matriarch of a long-standing traditional clan, and they end up hating each other on the show. But as fate would have it, the two later end up becoming mother and daughter-in-law for real.

It summarises the drama nicely and that's really what the whole drama was about. Despite knowing the outcome, I wanted to see how the writers would develop the idea and surprisingly, I was not disappointed. I'm usually quite interested in the process rather than the outcome.

The main themes for this drama would include: virtual vs reality, family & family hierarchy, mother-in-laws, good vs bad intention. Although this themes do sound rather heavy, it was not difficult to watch this drama and I finished it in a day. Yes, you read that right. I started it in the morning and was finished watching it just after dinner.

Without further ado, let's begin this drama discussion!

Note: This post will contain spoilers so for those who have not watched the drama, you may not want to continue reading.

The Characters

Oh In Young played by Sistar's Dasom is the female lead for this drama. The character is similar to Dasom's real life job of being a singer in a four member girl group. Oh In Young's character although is rather feisty and also rather blunt, she has a kind and respectful nature. Due to the decreasing popularity of her group, her company's director gave her no choice but to film this television program where she is a virtual daughter-in-law to the Cha family. She grew closer to the Cha family, when she was forced to stay with them as she needed to make a break in the entertainment industry otherwise her company would not re-contract with her.

On a side note, I thought Dasom's acting wasn't too bad. I read some articles questioning the director's choice and saying that there were many other actresses to cast. I think that she portrayed the role of Oh In Young well. I guess there's quite a lot of negativity regarding acting idols. They have to prove themselves even more so now after some awkward acting idols were casted.

The mother-in-law, Yang Choon Ja, is played by Go Doo Shim. Honestly, I didn't even know her name since everyone in the show referred to her as either eomonim or omma. Her character is a rather complex one. Towards the end, I realised that she sacrificed her life for her family and everything she does is for the sake of her family. It was really sweet to see how she changes in the end. Maybe this drama is trying to get it out there to all Korean mother-in-laws to change their perspective on things?

The virtual husband, Cha Myeong Suk played by Ryu Soo Young, is a... nerd. He's really quite a noob. He's an adjunct math professor at a university and he is very serious about his work. His mother would do anything for him to get the best. That is how she agreed to film the virtual mother-in-law program as she was told it would help him become a full time professor. He is also much older than Oh In Young, though it wasn't specified how much older he is. We only see that Oh In Young addresses him as ahjussi throughout the drama.

These few characters are the main characters although the other characters also play an important role in the development of the plot. Since it's a family drama, the storyline is centered around the same few family members.

The Plot

The plot really does thicken in this drama. I guess that's how most family dramas are like, there's always an expectable build up in the plot. With regards to this drama, there were a few unpredictable peaks which made it more captivating.

The first theme that was quite prominent throughout the drama would be the virtual and real aspect. It's probably one of the main themes as it's often mentioned. It was introduced at the beginning when Oh In Young started filming as a virtual daughter-in-law with the Cha family. Later on, it was questioned whether her feelings were real or just existing in virtual reality. I guess the idea was really a spoof of We Got Married.

Another big theme would be the family & family hierarchy theme. It comes quite similar to the mother-in-law theme. It's probably a significant part of the Korean culture although I'm not sure if it should be referred to as hierarchy though. I guess in every Korean family, age and ranking is seen as something important. Like how the daughter-in-law is treated and how the mother-in-law should be like. It was interesting that the writers gave viewers a chance to do a cross comparison between the Cha family with the Cha family's daughter who got married off. I'm sure if you watch this drama, you would understand what I mean.

In this day and age, most women aren't as traditional as before and obviously they wouldn't want to listen to their mother-in-laws. Through this show the reality of what Korean daughter-in-laws face. Since it's on KBS, they could be trying to get the message out there to all mother-in-laws that they have to keep up with times and maybe try to stop treating their daughter-in-laws badly. In any case, Korea is still a country that follows closely to traditions so it might take years for the mindset to change. Also, I would think it's quite common to find a mummy's boy husbands there. They had a mummy's boy character in this drama so if you would like to see for yourself, I suggest checking this drama out. Though I really felt a lot of frustration while watching it. 

The last theme which I pointed out would be the good vs bad theme. Like I've mentioned earlier, the writers had two sets of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law teams to allow us to compare. Of course the Cha family's mother-in-law eventually came around and turned out not to be so bad. Probably turning into a good example for all Korean mother-in-laws out there. Not only that, there were other instances where good vs bad intentions were shown. I guess such scenarios make the drama more exciting and engages the viewers more. 

The Ending

I would say that this drama had a pretty well rounded happy ending. They tied up all the loose ends and although they didn't conclude with the male and female leads getting married but it was implied so that's good enough for me. I used to dislike such open endings as it left people wondering what would happen, I used to think like what if they don't actually end up together. Then I guess most viewers wouldn't think as negatively as me so that made me start appreciating open endings more.

On the whole, I still would think this drama isn't too bad but unfortunately I don't think it was very popular. I had difficulty finding photos to decorate this post. It might seem more bare than other drama reviews.

I shall end with the trailer. Enjoy!