➹ random: 옥수수 차 corn tea

I've been craving Corn Tea after sampling it at Bulgogi Brothers last Chuseok. Their brew was so light and refreshing and I think I liked it more than the cold juice I paid for! ^^



So I was delighted when I found an RTD 옥수수 차 at the nearby local grocery~


I had it cooled and excitedly took a sip ... and ... it had such a strong roasted corn taste that I had to gulp down water afterwards~ ^^ It was just a bit overpowering for me. But I gradually "warmed up" to it and was able to finish the entire bottle after a while.

I was curious then if all the Ready to Drink corn teas tasted the same ... So I headed to the Korean grocery and happily bought this:



Needless to say, I was sold with Hyun Bin's endorsement ^^. I didn't even take a look at the other corn tea brands haha~

And the taste? Ah, it has the same powerful roasted corn flavor. I wouldn't want to drink it if I'm parched ... it just doesn't quench my thirst. But I would like to slowly sip it after a nice full meal. The Bulgogi Brothers staff did say that this is good for digestion. ^^

➹ tv watchlist: noriko goes to seoul 노리코 서울에 가다

I am immensely delighted to have seen this Chuseok TV Special called 노리코 서울에 가다 ! This is such a beautiful, light, and pleasant story shot prettily with Seoul's amazing views and everyday sceneries. I ❤ it!!!! 진짜 진짜!


Oh, this scene is actually supposedly in Japan ㅋㅋ Seoul views farther down below.

The premise is quite simple. Mori Noriko is a Japanese hallyu-fan mom who goes to Seoul to join a singing audition contest on TV. She leaves her indifferent husband and troubled daughter in Japan while carrying a terrible health secret. She arrives at the studio, unable to sing hangul songs well but is determined to learn and pass the audition to become an inspiration to her daughter. She finds this rebel singer Kim Min Ha (Lee Hongki) at the audition and begs him to teach her how to sing for a fee. He agrees to do so for 1,000,000 KRW! He lets her stay at his grandmother's house and they struggle to get along as teacher-student. The story unfolds from there.

The oh-so-amazing shots of Seoul vis-à-vis the daily life of the characters. Here are some SUPER classic scenes which can almost make up a perfect Seoul itinerary:

1. Limousine Bus from the airport


2. 삼겹살


3. A Seoul street lined with PC Bang's


4. 노래방


5. Cliff overlooking city lights


6. Chicken place


7. N Seoul Tower at night


8. Day View! Hanok houses with the N Seoul Tower in the horizon


9. Star Avenue (Lotte ?) Glimpses of Janggeunseok (so is he the hallyu star the ahjumma is fangirling for!?) and Kim Hyun Joong!


10. Bus Stop


11. Samgyetang!!!


Interspersed scenes from Japan and Japanese language spoken here and there with hangul subs. If you're learning hangul, it's interesting to try to understand Japanese from hangul subs. It might be fun the other way around too.

Lee Hongki ❤ Ah, but that spazzing is for another post.





Brain teaser … Would going off in a rage speaking in another language intimidate locals? Haha, just a random thought … When the Japanese ahjumma was so mad, she bursted out in fluent angry Japanese and the Korean ahjumma backed out haha ㅋㅋmight be worth remembering.



And oooh! I have a similar set of headphones! ^^ Just saying ... I don't think they're Ahjumma-ish though ... ^^

➹ movie watchlist: 영화는! Hello Ghost

This is the perfect movie to make you burst out in suffocating tears while eating a mouthful of kimbap. Sounds like a wonderful afternoon, right? And you thought this was a comedy?


Well, indeed it starts off as one. Hello Ghost 헬로우 고스트 stars Cha Tae Hyun (My Sassy Girl; Speed Scandal) who did hilarious interpretations of the 4 ghosts who decided to live with him after his failed suicide attempts. I thought he did a brilliant job playing the crying ahjumma although this female character might have been the easiest for Cha Tae Hyun to portray. He managed to do the erratic personality switches without being too crazy (not Jim Carrey-level perhaps. in a GOOD way). I thought Cha Tae Hyun managed to remain specially endearing and gloriously pathetic and funny and unfortunate. Just the perfect leading man loser you want to cheer on.



It's just quite sad and at the same time fascinating how suicide attempts are taken a bit lightly in Korea. There was almost no panic shown by the folks who incidentally/purposely rescued Sang Man from his suicide attempts. Sang Man even thought that he would go to heaven should he succeed in his attempts ~ because he didn't really do anything wrong in his life ... I suppose, if for anything, the story confirms that good people won't die easily? ㅎㅎ Well, just maybe.

The movie, though released last 2010, fits perfectly with the huge retro comeback in Korea in these past months. I almost could hear T-ara's Roly Poly playing on the background while the characters were shopping for the manhwa movies. Nahh, that's just me. But at least I didn't feel like I was watching it too late.



So while there were plenty of nice laughs, we had just as much of those tearjerker moments. I tend to remember those sentimental moments more ㅋㅋㅋ. And of course, I'm such a huge crazy fan of symbolism's and all the little things making sense at the ending! And I sure don't need a shorter technical term for it. To me this is my "all-things-happen-for-a-reason-phenomenon". It's my OC-organized self believing that this life cleans up after its own messes; that there must be something worth waiting for and enduring for; and that dreams come true (cue: fireworks ㅋㅋㅋ). Oh well, here's another nice movie saying all that.

official site: http://www.helloghost.co.kr/