Friday, December 16, 2011

Hangul

As you already know, it's a goal of mine to become fluent in Korean. Since my dongsaeng Shaylah is also trying to start to learn, I thought I would create a post quickly reviewing the Hangul characters in case anyone else is trying to learn ^_^

ㅂ= b/p
ㅈ= j/ can sometimes be pronounced as ch
ㄷ= d/t
ㅅ= s/sh
ㅁ= m
ㄴ= n
ㄱ= g/k
ㄹ= r/l
ㅎ= h
ㅊ= ch

ㅃ= bb/pp
ㅉ= jj
ㄸ= dd/tt
ㅆ= ss
ㄲ= gg/kk

ㅋ= k
ㅌ= t
ㅍ= p

ㅐ= ae
ㅔ= e
ㅗ= o/wo
ㅓ= o
ㅏ= a
ㅣ= i/ee
ㅜ= oo/woo
ㅡ= u/eu

ㅕ= yo
ㅑ= ya
ㅠ= yoo
ㅛ= yo

ㅇ= ng/ when you need to have a vowel take the first sound, you use ㅇ, for example; 언= an

I recommend trying to memorize these first, and then start reading small words that you are already familiar with how they are pronounced. A fun way for me to do this was through the names of various idols and actors. Want to try?






하하



용화



Hope this helps anyone who is wanting to learn!


Fighting~


Picture Source 1 2 3

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Sorry~

Sorry for not posting recently -_- School has proven to be a lot more work this past week than I thought it would. Luckily though, I'll finish one online final tomorrow, and after that the only day I have left of school is next Money ^_^

I can't really post a lot tonight since I have to wake up at 4am tomorrow for work, but I wanted to quickly share some new music that I recently discovered. Shaylah introduced me to him and I'm hooked! Sungha Jung does amazing covers with just his guitar (his version of "My Heart Will Go On" is a must listen). He covers everything, but his K-Pop covers are superb! Take a listen and let me know what you think ^_^



Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Korean Dramas On Netflix

So I've finally got Netflix streaming for my TV, and I was so excited because I distinctly remember watching an episode of City Hunter through Netflix streaming a few months ago. I knew that they had recently added some Korean Dramas to instant streaming, so I began my search last night and I was thoroughly disappointed, to the point of being crazy! 


This is exactly what I felt like doing


There are multiple lists online from August saying that dramas like City Hunter, My Princess, and Midas were available on instant streaming (and I was beyond excited to watch My Princess again). But searching (and searching, and searching) on Netflix now, I could only find two Korean dramas from the past couple of years; Boys Over Flowers and Miss Ripley.

Really?!

Why do you have multiple dramas on instant streaming and then take them down?





Needless to say I ended up watching the first two episodes of Miss Ripley last night and I plan on watching the rest of the series, but I am completely baffled and upset by this. Hopefully Netflix will add some more titles soon and redeem themselves!  


Picture Source 1 2

Monday, December 5, 2011

YG Family Concert

I cannot believe how epic the YG Family Concert has been this year! Watching the early fancams yesterday morning made me want to scream out of excitement and cry out of pity for myself that I wasn't there.





Without a doubt the thing that made me the happiest was getting to see Big Bang perform together as five ^_^ It's been far too long!





It was also amazing to see Daesung smiling~ His voice is so incredible! Loved, loved, loved his cover of Hurt.


I already know that focusing on school the next couple of days is completely out of the question for me. Instead all I will be doing is stalking the internet for more fan cams and wishing that I could go to the next YG Family concert!





I will also be watching this video another 200 times in addition to the 200 times I have already watched it @_@ I Am The Best is already an amazing song, but seeing T.O.P. like this kills me~

Picture Source 1 2

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Bi Bim Bap Recipe

Coming home from my 6am shift at work today, I was wracking my brain to think of something, anything that I could have for my lunch. And then, a magical thought came to me;

"Why not make some Bi Bim Bap?"

So that's what I did!




First, I started with my bowl of rice. This is about 3/4 cup uncooked rice. It was just a little bit too much for me, which probably means that this is the right amount for a normal person hehe. Season it with 2 teaspoons or so of sesame oil.




Then, I chopped up all of my ingredients. I used what I had on hand, which ended up being bell pepper, carrots, and salmon. The goal is to chop your ingredients so they are about as thick as a matchstick, which is a skill I am still working on. A shredder would really work wonders ^_^

You can use whatever kind of meat you have, like beef, pork, or chicken. The salmon I used is super delicious and from Costco.





Once you have everything chopped, saute each ingredient separately in a pan with a bit of oil. This shouldn't take long, just a few minutes for each one.


 


I also had some spinach left over from some japchae I made last week, so I put that in my Bi Bim Bap also. Put about a handful in a pot of boiling water for about a minute. Rinse the spinach in cold water and then chop it.





Finally my ingredients came to look like this. You can really use any kind of vegetables that you would like in your Bi Bim Bap, but bean sprouts and mushrooms are both very popular ingredients that I didn't have at the time. If you want, you can season your vegetables with soy sauce and sesame oil. Also, if you have spicy chili sauce, that is often eaten with Bi Bim Bap, but once again it was something I didn't have.




Neatly arrange your ingredients on your rice and top it off with an egg. Volia! Bi Bim Bap! Mix it up and enjoy~

Friday, December 2, 2011

A Kim Bum Appreciation Post

Because we all could use some more Kim Bum in our lives, right?


A recent picture, that hair~


Kim Bum is a Korean actor who is most famous for his role as Soh Yi Jung in Boys Over Flowers. He has also been in the dramas East of Eden, Unstoppable High Kick, Dream, and The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry. 





Kim Bum actually has a new drama about to start! The first episode is set to air on December 5th, and it is called Padam Padam: The Sound of His and Her Heartbeats. It looks like it will be a decent drama so I will definitely give it a go ^_^ (It's going to be hard to keep up with all these drama, especially because I'm planning on watching What's Up for Daesung when that starts later this month also!) 




Here is a fun fact about Kim Bum; last year he was given an award proclaiming him to be the Korean real-life equivalent of a Ken doll!





Earlier this year Kim Bum and Lee Min Ho went bike riding along the Han river together. Yay for an F4 reunion! They should call me the next time they are going on a bike ride~ hehe





Even though I think I will have a hard time seeing him as anything other than Soh YiJung (the pottery, the amazing clothes, that saxophone~) I am really anticipating his new drama. Let's all support Kim Bum, I can't wait to see him progress as a actor ^_^


Picture Source 1 2 3 4 5

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Leessang

After waiting far too long, I finally got Leessang's most recent album, Asura BalBalTa. I am already in love with it!





Leessang is a hip hop duo composed of two members, Gary and Gil. They debuted in 2002 and so far they have released seven albums.


Kang Gary~ <3


You might already know of my love for Gary because he is a regular member of Running Man. On the show Gary has a slightly clueless image. Despite this he typically puts his best effort into every challenge that he is faced with. He is also known to just go with the flow. The thing I most love about Gary is his status of the "Monday Boyfriend". He and Song Ji Hyo say that they are in a relationship only on Mondays, which is the day that Running Man is filmed on. Gary is normally very sweet and caring towards Ji Hyo which has caused many women to want to take Ji Hyo's place every Monday ^_~


Gil Seong-Joon


Gil is the other member of Leessang. Like Gary, he is also a regular member of a variety program, Infinite Challenge. I haven't seen much of Infinite Challenge but it's a show that I've been meaning to start watching because every episode that I've seen of it so far has been hilarious!







Here is one of their songs from Asura BalBalTa, I Turned Off the TV. This song was recently declared to be the most popular song of 2011! I really enjoy it and I can't wait to hear more from Leessang in the future!




Picture Source 1 2 3