Music Fest for our Monday Therapy {Monday Morning Therapy with Dongsaeng}

How is everyone's Monday going?  Ready for a little therapy?  I don't have a ton to discuss today, but I did find a lot of really fun videos last night that I wanted to share.  As I laid there in bed last night watching YouTube video after YouTube video from that day's musical show performances, it hit me just how fortunate we are right now as KPop fans.  The summer of 2013 has brought us just awesome music, hasn't it?  The music scene in Korea is just exploding and pumping out one hit right after another.  It's difficult at times to even keep up with the amount of awesomeness being poured out onto the music scene.

So this post will just have some of my favorite performances from the weekend.  And maybe some other stuff.  We'll see what catches my attention.  I hope that you find something here that will help you tackle the rest of your Monday and get you pumped up for the rest of the week.

Enjoy!  And feel free to share any of your favorite videos that maybe I missed either in the comments or on our FB page.

Here's the breakdown:  The first group is for my VIPs out there.  Lots of GD and Seungri from Inkigayo and M-Countdown.  Then there's some other performances from Sunday's Inkigayo of groups I like (Teen Top, Nu'est, Henry, and BAP).  Then there's the Japanese version of BAP's Warrior MV that wad just released a couple of days ago.  I know what you're thinking, it's Warrior, we've seen that already, but no, if you haven't seen this version yet, trust me, you'll want to.  It's awesome and amazing.  Watch it fast though - my sources warn me that Japanese videos often don't stick around for long before they're yanked off the interwebs.  (Hey Japan, maybe that's why KPop is so popular around the world and in your country because they're not stingy when it comes to sharing the love and making the music accessible - hint, hint)  And finally, last but most certainly not least, I put up JYJ's new release, "Only One" that they did for the 2014 Asiad games in Incheon.  I already gave my opinion on this video on my FB page, but in case you missed it, I'll tell you here as well what I think about it.  I'm going to put it down below though after the video so as to not spoil it ahead of time.  If you can't find something on this list that you like, then I just don't know what to tell you.  Hopefully there's something here for everyone.  Okay, there aren't any girl groups.  You got me there, but otherwise, I think we covered a good portion of the recent musical gamut.



My thoughts on the JYJ video....

The boys look AMAZING!  Especially my Jae and I don't say that just because I'm biased.  Yeah, of course I'm biased, but he looks absolutely spectacular here.  The song itself is catchy in a "you're never going to get it out of your head if you're not careful and it will drive you insane at some point" kind of way. And the video, oh the video.  Cheesy fantasticness.  If you're going to go cheesy, go all the way I say, and they certainly did here.  One can't help but smile.  It's a happy, cheerful song.  Super duper sugary sweet cheesy goodness.  Enough to warm even the most cynical of hearts.  If this can't make you smile, well, then I just don't know what will.  They definitely tried their best.  I love Korea!

 

KCON 2013: My Story

KCON 2013.  Where to even begin?

First, I don't know if you know this or not, but I was also able to make it to the inaugural KCON 2012.  But I already talked about that here, so I'm not going to talk about it again.  If you want to see how both experiences differed from each other, please feel free to take a journey back in time and check it out.

Now, some of you may have been aware of a little KCON related drama on a personal level.  Basically I bought the ticket when I heard GD was coming because I couldn't function until I did.  I was such a mess that day.  Shaking and breathing fast and crying because I knew I couldn't go.  And stalking Ticketmaster.  Can't forget the stalking Ticketmaster part.  I would check to see if there were still tickets.  Then I'd sit there watching the clock count down as I vacillated on whether or not to pull the trigger.  Somewhere around stalking #3 or 4, after selecting "best available ticket" option just like every other time, something unheard of happened.  It was like fate stepped in and took over.  Floor.  VIP2 (VIP1 was long sold out) level.  ON THE FLOOR.  To see GD and all these other groups.  G-Dragon.  Right there in front of me on the stage.  I mean, how could I not?!?!  So yeah, I pulled the trigger.  Tossed aside all reason and conscious thought and bought it, assuring myself that if nothing else, I could always sell it off later if I couldn't go.  Fast forward a few weeks -- I decided I couldn't go.  It was with heavy heart that I chose to be a responsible adult and not jeopardize or infringe on the needs of my family and I put them up for sale.  First to a good friend and later to the public.  Long story short, the ticket did not sell and it was time for me to make a game time decision.  Drive my butt over to California and have a blast with my friends and GD or let the ticket go to waste?  Well, when faced with that sort of dilemma, I mean, what else was I to do?  So yeah, I packed up and hit the open road.

What a fabulous weekend it ended up being!  Now, a lot of it had to do with the friends I was with and not entirely KCON itself.  In fact, I didn't really have the "full KCON experience".  You had to be lucky enough to win a spot at any of the artist engagements, which I wasn't.  I didn't get to see any big names up close and personal.  I didn't get to give GD a high five.  *pouts*  I did however, still manage to have a blast.  And frankly, one nice thing about the way they did it was that I knew from the time I got there that I hadn't won any of those opportunities, so the rest of the time I was able to just let it go and enjoy myself.  And enjoy myself I did.

What was one thing that struck me about KCON this year?  It was HUGE!!!!  It was so much bigger and more organized than last year.  Also, going with friends is wayyy cooler than going as a mom with an 11 year old and being dropped off by your husband.  I was there with two friends and the three of us had so much fun together!  We collected our various swag items from different tents, entered all the raffles we could, played games, all of that.  We didn't make it to any panel discussions or big activities like the dancing lessons or whatnot.  Even still, we had a great time.  We scouted the boys, squealing like schoolgirls when we saw a cutie walk by (oh, and believe you me, those squealing moments were coming fast and furious at times because there were A LOT of cuties).  Is there anything better than girl time?  Well, yeah, I guess my family ranks up there pretty high, but as a mom, it is just so therapeutic and rejuvenating to get out every once in a while and be a silly girl, you know?

One of my highlight moments of Saturday was meeting Sean Richard at the Viki tent.  First, Viki people were AWESOME and so nice.  And Sean, oh my goodness, Sean.  Confession - before this, I had no idea who he was.  After this though, I am seeing him everywhere!  It's crazy.  But seriously.  He just randomly pops up in things when I'm not looking for him.  You know when people say something like, "wow, you're even better looking in person"?  Uh, yeah - it's true.  Seeing pictures I was all like, "meh", but in real life I was completely twitterpated.  He was so handsome and so nice and he laughed when I asked him to sign my light stick and was all like, "I wondered what these were".  I made Sean Richard laugh.  And I took the dorkiest picture with him.  My eyes were closed yet I had the biggest, goofiest smile on my face.  Totally twitterpated, remember?  After I got my signature, we went back in line later so that my friend could get hers.  Two times I got to stand right there with him and take pictures of my friend with him.  Silly, gloriously wonderful moments like that.  Another highlight was when my friend Jen was able to score a shout out from one of her favorite artists that just so happened to be there as well, Dumbfoundead, for her KPop radio show.  I heard it - it was awesome and she was so giddy to get it.  Ahh, all of our fun fangirl moments.

We eventually started to wind down.  It was hot and sunny all day and we were pooped.  It was time for some refreshments.  We were off to KTown LA!  We shopped and ate and had the best after party for 3 ever.  Have you heard of the store called Daiso?  It's a Japanese dollar store to put it as generically as I can.  Everything in it is $1.50 and they have some super amazing stuff that you can get for $1.50.  I was in heaven.  Really.  I'm cheap.  I found all sorts things that I had been wanting but not bad enough to shell out normal retail prices for.  How happy was I that I had driven to California all by myself in my 7-seater car?  There was no limit on the space I had available - I could buy whatever I wanted to buy.  Which I did.  And it was fabulous and I can't wait to go back and do it again sometime.  Hi, my name is Dongsaeng and I am a Daiso junkie.

The next day was the concert.

Omo...the concert.  Wow!  Just....yeah....I don't even know how to put it into words.  Everyone that performed went above and beyond my expectations.  There was the surprise 2AM stage.  I didn't think I really cared for 2AM and had no interest in seeing them, but lo and behold, they were fabulous and I fully enjoyed their performance.  f(x) gave me a girl crush on Amber.  She was rocking it all night, appearing a couple of other times on stage throughout the show.  You could tell that she was comfortable and feeling at home unlike her bandmates (sorry girls - but you seemed terrified up there).  Teen Top stole my heart after I fought it for so long.  I had refused to like them in the past because I felt they ripped off Big Bang in a lot of their concepts.  But, one can not see those boys in person and not fall head-over-heels.  Especially C.A.P.  That boy is fiii-iiine!  I was entranced.  Mesmerized.  He was my bias list buster of the night for sure.

not my picture - I have to see if I have one of him from that night, but until then, this one is a great place holder, is it not?

And then there was EXO.

Oh EXO.  So many conflicting thoughts swirl around you with me.  I like you.  I like most of your music.  I especially LOVE Growl.  Then there's the mom side of me - the side that sees some of your fans (whom I call EXOhaustives - the crazy ones that is).  Granted, all EXOtics are not created alike and I recognize that, but for whatever reason, this particular group seems to have appealed to a whole new batch of obsession unbefore seen to my eyes.  I can understand how they were banned back in Korea from attending tapings.  Rabid fans some (not all) of them.  That's a totally lame old lady reason to not like a group, isn't it?  I swear one day I'm going to be the cranky old lady next door yelling at kids to get off her lawn.  Hey, at least I recognize and admit to this particular character flaw of mine.  I is what I is -- and some of those EXOtics are cray cray and need an EXOcism.  Just sayin.  "Enthusiastic" fans aside though, their performance, at least what I could see of it was awesome.  This was my first time ever on the floor for any show and I learned a hard lesson - floor seats are freaking rad, but there are downsides, like the fact that sometimes the stage is really hard to see because there are a gazillion people in front of you.  The way they had the stage configured, there was a big stage in the back and one in the foreground.  When they were on the front stage, I had a great view and felt like I was right there.  It was magical.  The back stage was different though.  When they were on the back stage, I had to crane and peep through small openings between arms and cameras and freaking tablets (yes, tablets - people videoing the entire show with giant ipads blocking the view for the people like me unfortunate enough to be stuck behind them).  Add in the lighting and the glare and I just kind of gave up when performances were happening there.  At least there were screens to show what was happening on stage - when those screens were actually showing what was going on on stage and not just displaying the CJ logo as it all too frequently did.  Annoying.  Anyway, EXO is a large group so most of what they did took place on the back stage, meaning that I didn't fully get to appreciate them as I would have liked to.  That and the sound was bad.  I'm sure they had it optimized for the M Countdown recording they were doing, but with the crap sound and the screaming fans, it was sometimes hard to even hear what song they were doing.  All of the little frustrations aside though, I really did enjoy seeing EXO.

The best part of EXO and the EXOhaustives though?  After their set, a few, not many, but a few, EXO fans left the floor area, meaning that I got to inch just that much closer to the stage for my main man.  *sigh*  Oh GD.  GD, GD, GD.  What this boy does to me --  I am still a week later trying to G-Dtoxifiy.  I can focus on little else besides that man.  When he came out on stage, I lost all sense of everything.  I no longer cared who's view I may be blocking or who I was pissing off around me with my screaming.  I just lost it.  There he was - as beautiful and wonderful as ever and I was there.  The logical side of me knows that I shouldn't care as much as I do, but heaven help me, when he's around, logic dies and takes a heck of a long time to resurrect.  I'm still not there.  I'm still in GD lalala land.  I've never had a hangover, but I imagine that in a lot of ways it would feel like this.  Everything, all the time we had together as he danced and sang and performed is just a blur and I'm left scrambling to come down from this high.  Have I mentioned before that I kind of like him?  Just a tad?  The absolute best moment was being able to see him perform his new song with Missy Elliott for the first time.  It was cool knowing that we were the first audience to see and hear it.  I have watched that clip, and all of his other songs from that night, repeatedly.  I am starting to memorize his every move and action during these performances because I've watched them so much.  I just have to.  I have to keep reliving the magic in order to convince myself that it really happened and wasn't just some wonderful dream.  Sheesh, Dongsaeng, dramatic much?

And that's my story.  Or at least the parts worth mentioning.  It was a fantastic weekend filled with friends and fun and fangirling and food and Korean immersion.  I love my Korean immersion time.  It still is awkward at first to be around my friends and actually say these things out loud.  To talk about dramas or KPop artists or what have you.  It is an odd feeling the first few times because someone is standing there, face to face with you, and conversating about this "underground" world that you so often feel all alone in.  It's so very cool to do.  I love it.  I love getting out into that world where I can be me and express my infatuation with all of it and people around me get it.  And feel the same way.  It's nice to be an odd duck in a pond full of other odd ducks.

I've blabbed long enough.  Time to throw some pictures up on this sucker and some videos and then I'm done.  I can't believe I'm going to share these because I think I look weird.  o.O

Signing a banner for Big Bang thanks to USAVIPS!

I'm in this shot ;)  It's like a game of Where's Red?

My View

I was so gross and sweaty by the end but it was so worth it!!!

I have my own videos from the concert but am not having much luck loading them onto YouTube.  I'm going to try later and I can share them here once I get it to work.  Until then, I'm sure you've already seen these, but here are the "official" ones of GD's performance.  I did post some of my videos on my Shannen Dongsaeng FB page the other day, so you can always check them out there if I can't get past the YouTube blockade.

Also, I'm going to toss up G-Dragon's newest MV that was just released a bit ago!!!!  I am so excited!  It was a crazy long day of very impatient waiting.  But it's here now and I LOVE it!!!  The imagery is amazing. He is a true artist.  He's the real deal and the whole package and that's why I love him so.  Yes, I know, this is, once again, a very GD heavy post.  I can't help it.  Do you know what this boy does to me?  I cannot be held responsible for my reactions or actions when it comes to him.

Enjoy the music!  If you were at KCON too, drop me a line and let me know!  We can chat and reminisce together.  Unless you got to give GD a high five then I just don't want to talk to you no more.  ;)

Happy Monday!!!!

Proud2BVIP {Monday Evening Therapy with Dongsaeng}

Monday beat me today.  A sick kid, a sick mom, and a husband working 12 hour days 6-7 days a week lately.  I was just done in through most of the day.  Thankfully I was able to find some R&R in the form of a dramathon.  I watched several episodes of Sungkyunkwan Scandal.  Can you believe I've never seen it?  Crazy, right?  Obviously I had to right that wrong, and I've been diligently chipping away at it all day.  Now that I've got a bit of my sanity back, I thought that I should get my post out, even if it's a bit tardy.

So, what's on my mind today?  Well, lately, for some odd reason, I've been feeling all V.I.Pish so maybe I'll talk about that and everything going on in the wide, wonderful world of Big Bang.  You know, at the risk of being incredibly and entirely biased ;)

Yesterday (8/18) celebrated G-Dragon's birthday.  Happy birthday GD!!!  We neglected to get a proper birthday post up, but you were certainly in our thoughts that day.

Then, the day after, 8/19 (oh hey - that's today!), celebrates Big Bang's 7th anniversary.  Happy anniversary guys!!!  
7 years of Big Bang - it's a wonderful thing, is it not?  It's not too common for KPop groups to last this long, so yeah, it definitely is a wonderful thing and we look forward to many, many, many more years to come.  As long as they still want to make music, I'll still listen and love it.  I am proud to be a VIP!

Just found this on Pinterest and thought it was perfect!  And so going to be me!  ^_^

And then, last night (in my corner of the world), maknae Seungri released his solo MV "Gotta Talk to You".  Our little maknae is all grown up in this one!  I loved his sophisticated, uber manly look with the suit and the hair and everything.  It was understated and classy.  Good work Victory!




Also to come out recently was GD's teaser for his upcoming solo album, "coup de tat"

 I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to this one's official release!  Creepy faces in motor oil and all.

Anything else to mention?  Have I forgotten anything in my "Monday totally beat me up" haze?  I hope not, cause I'm off to bed for some more dramathoning (and because it appears that my dear child may have chosen to share his fever with me - delightful child that he is and so very good at sharing).

Ooh, wait! There is something!  It's unrelated and more personal in nature, but guess what came in the mail today?  Our first official Crazy Ahjummas business cards!!!  There have been a couple of times I wished I had some on me to share and so I decided to take advantage of one of the "free" offers out there once and for all and get some.  They're purty and I'm proud of them and the happy, warm fuzzy feeling it gives me to hold them in my hand and see our name in print.

Before I dash, I'll leave you with a final few questions.... What's your favorite Big Bang song?  Music video?  Who's your favorite member?  Who's the biggest VIP out there?  I know many of you are.  Sorry to those that aren't since this is obviously a very Big Bang-centric post.  Well, not really all that sorry.  We are talking Big Bang here - it's not like I ever shy away from talking about them to anyone and everyone whether they want to hear about them or not ;)  Even my personal, non-K related FB page got a VIP upgrade for the day.  I'm sure there were plenty of eye rolls going on amongst my family and friends.  See how fazed I am by it?  {Since you can't see me, I'll just tell you, I'm not, at all fazed in any way}. 

Now off to my wonderful happy place of dramas, dramas, dramas!!!  Have a wonderful rest of your evening as you unwind and recover from your Monday and prepare for the rest of the week!  Thanks for stopping by!

Unnie's Wednesday Write Up: Catching Up

I sit here in my son's Tae Kwon Do Dojaeng & type out a late Wednesday Write Up, with my daughter next to me drooling over her next My Little Pony purchase & am very VERY aware that I am very VERY behind in my posts on this here Daebak blog.  I apologize but that last week of school nearly did me in.  My husband was out of town so I was left as mom & dad for the busiest week of the school year, minus the ones before Christmas Break & Easter Break.  Which included; field days, Tae Kwon Do, Scouts, class parties, teacher gift shopping, volunteering, & my son's 8th grade graduation.  You have no idea how incredibly happy I was when school was officially over for the year.  Or maybe you do if you have kids too.  Which I am sure some of you do, so you can feel my pain.  *sob* I shall now proceed to break for a little mental breakdown...you can find me in the fetal position in the corner.

******************************Unnie's Mental Breakdown****************************

And I am okay.  *repeat* I am okay.  Phew!  But you guys didn't come here to hear me whine, once again, about how hard my blessings are to take.  Moving right along then.

I am afraid my WWU this week is going to be pretty short.  Sorry guys but I haven't watched even my review drama in the last 2 weeks.  But guess what I am going to be doing all day tomorrow?  Yep, you guessed it, watching, writing, watching, writing, etc.....  And I will probably be doing it in my most glamorous duds too...my jammies.  ^^

But as a result of my severe K Drama drought, this includes K new releases (except KHJ I stop everything for him... *sigh* happy place* khj* hmmmm.....o.O)  ahem... and  K news too.  I exited my drought yesterday to watch the latest Barefoot Friends episode & discovered, to my shock & astonishment, that you guys went on with life without me!  Gasp! O.O  How could you?!?!?  *sniff sniff*  I feel so alone.  I think I'll break into 2NE1's Lonely.




Okay I am back from feeling Lonely.  Sigh... you guys couldn't wait a mere 6 weeks for me?  It's okay I understand, it wouldn't be my first choice to wait for some crazy ahjumma to start back into the glorious world of K.  I don't blame my fellow AddiKts at all.

{{Psss...is my guilt trip working?  Darn I knew it wouldn't, you guys are on to me.}}

So, let's catch up.  We can stand around the water cooler & just chat about all the things I missed.  I will mention just a few things I was able to see today when I went online & then you guys can leave me comments on this post or go to my Twitter, FB or the TCA FB page & tell me all the things you think are important that I missed.  Come on guys what's the latest news?!?!  I am dying of my K thirst!  Help an ahjumma out AddiKts!!  PLEASE?!?!?!

Thank you Pinterest for the new "search just my pins" option!!  You have no idea how much time it saved me just now! 

First, both Dongsaeng & I happen to have family dogs, that we love & wouldn't know what to do without, & so we send out our sincere condolences to Taeyang of Big Bang.  His beautiful 5 year best friend "Boss" passed away this week.  I lost one of my dogs to a tragic accident just 18 months ago & there isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss our Hershey Kisses....  So we really felt awful for poor Taeyang.  We are sending all our love to you Taeyang.

This is my Liam w Hershey the summer before we lost Hershey.

Going along with another Big Bang member I read this afternoon off of DramaFever that G Dragon has hit over 1 million followers on his Instagram.  So congrats to GD.

GDs IG pic celebrating his 1 million followers

I can see from friends which K Dramas I need to watch &/or catch up on & trust me I intend to...Father's Day is this Sunday so I won't get K Dramas then, so I will have to watch as many GFB eps as I can before I go to sleep Sat night, right?  Then next week we have guests coming in from out of town, another fellow addiKt, my friend from St Louis that I converted to K awesomeness, & her kids will be with me for a week so I have just a few days to get my house all spic & span, so I can fool her into thinking my kids are neat freaks...LOL Yeah I couldn't even keep a straight face typing it.  (^_-)

Sigh...now I feel it important to talk about 2 more things.  First, my distress & subsequent attempts to obliterate my memory.  I told you that Barefoot Friends was the only thing I have been tuning into lately, right?  Well as much as I LOVED episode 8 I have a couple of issues with the show & I feel it my duty to bring attention to these blatant attempts to steal MY KHJ from me.  They are; UEE & Hyori, *smh* on their own these 2 women are great & I like them a lot.  BUT when they are around MY KHJ, wearing his shirts & NOTHING else AND then getting to sleep in HIS bed....yeah that I have a problem with.  Hussies.

Actually I kid.  I really loved the episode, I got to watch Eunhyuk do that weird neck thing while blowing pages of a dictionary & his competition away AND I got to see KHJs house.  It was very similar to what I had pictured...he is a bachelor after all.  Lots of monotone colors, mostly black, simple furnishings, even the skulls, I figured he'd have a few of those in his pad too.  Remember he also spends a lot of time on the road (or rather in a plane) traveling for touring etc...  My eldest son & I watched the show together & laughed & laughed & are now determined to have a few contests of our own together, just so we can yell, "Yah!" at each other.

Which leads me to my last announcement.... also KHJ related.

HUGE SHOUT OUT TO KHJ for having 3 of his singles sell more than 100,000 copies in their first week of release each.  Not surprising when you remember how incredibly handsome, talented, mesmerizing he is on stage & off stage to watch & listen to.   Sigh.


It's been a busy few weeks while I have been otherwise distracted, I feel cut off & floating all by myself iin the ocean yelling, "I'm here!!  Don't do cool things without me!!"  But alas no one sees my sad, pathetic, little row boat.  Sigh.  {{Is the guilt trip working yet?  Dang it!  You people are cold!}}

Well, I should be paying attention to my son & his testing...oops... so I will close with this promise.... LOTS of catch up posts for GFB are coming, look for them this weekend.  I probably won't catch all the way up but I will try to get through at least 3 weeks between Fri & Sat.  But this means my posts will be even shorter than the norm for me.  See ya later kids!

Saranghamnida,

Let's Give this a Serious Go {Monday Morning Therapy with Dongsaeng}

Hello and good day to you all!  How have you been since we were last together?  My apologies for once again falling off the blogwagon.  I spent a good deal of my week doctor hopping trying to get to the bottom of whatever this is that is keeping me from my daily life, including time here with my favorite addicKts talking about my favorite things.  Time not spent whiling away a day or two in transit and waiting rooms was spent sick in bed and/or playing catch up for the time spent sick in bed.  Life is fun sometimes, isn't it?  I don't mean to complain, really I don't.  This is neither the time nor place, nor is it really in my nature to be all gloomy.  So my apologies if that's how it comes across.  No, I just want you to know that the reason I've been kind of missing in action a lot lately is all because of me, not you.

Before I get started officially, I wanted to send a quick cryptic message to one of our most favorite and special readers.  Not even sure if she'll see this or not, but on the off chance that she does, we just want our dear friend to know that we are thinking of her and sending out all the love we can as she faces a heart-breaking loss in her life.  See, being a friend of TCA has its benefits.  You can get cryptic messages written just for you.  Membership has its benefits, no?  ;)

Now for the main show.  Since I slacked off last week, I didn't get to share these with you personally.  I'm sure they're not new by any means to you anymore and I'm incredibly late to this party.  Like embarrassingly late.  Well, like a week late I suppose.  I lost my invite and got the day wrong and now I'm standing on your doorstep with a bag of chips in hand ready to party.

What did you all think of GD's newest video, Michi Go?  Personally, while I liked it and watched it repeatedly, it's not my favorite ever of his.  It is fun and catchy though, even if a wee bit repetitive and kind of jarring if you're not in the right frame of mind (or maybe age bracket).  Still, it's GD.  I am hopelessly under his Dragony powers.  Sigh.  Even if there were many close-up shots of giant feet getting picked at.  Gag. (I have a foot thing, don't mind me).  And what a special surprise to see YG hyung Se7en make a cameo appearance.  It was like seeing a ghost from beyond the grave - you know, the military service grave.  Since Se7en is now serving his MS time and all.  Ah, Se7en...you and I have some major catch up to play in the next two years before you come back.  I look forward to getting to know you better so that I am all ready to welcome you back properly.



Another video that came out was SHINee's Why So Serious.  Okay.  So I have a choice to make here.  Do I tow the Shawol line and gush about how awesome this song and video are, or do I tell you what I really think, thus possibly alienating some?  After all, I think we all know how "passionate" netizens can be.  And yes, by "passionate" I do indeed mean "batcrap crazy".  Since this isn't a normal "fan" site though, I think we can all be mature enough to discuss this like rational human beings, right?  Well, let's give it a shot.



I love and adore SHINee.  I love their music.  Musically they are probably my number 2, right behind Big Bang.  Their music always makes me smile.  It makes me happy.  But this song from the onset bothered me.  A lot.  Just the concept of it.  Okay, more specifically, the title.  "Why So Serious".  Really?  We all know that GD ripped that one off of the Joker first for Crayon.  You hear that phrase and can't help but think of Crayon.  I'm sorry.  It's just true.  You can't deny it.  This bothers me because it then makes it seem like SHINee (read "SM" as I don't point fingers at the artists in this case) is just hoping to ride the GD wave of success.  It makes them seem like cheap copycats when in fact, they definitely do not deserve that.  They are in their own right absolutely amazing and deserve to be recognized for their originality and talent.  This just leaves a bad taste in the mouth that I don't like to see attached to a group I adore so much.  And let's talk numbers.  Now, I don't know all the ins and outs.  I'm absolutely 100% positive that this decision was not made lightly or happily.  I know that if they had seen a way around it, they certainly would have gone for it.  But the fact still stands that it just feels so wrong that Jonghyun was not in the video.  If you will recall, he was recently injured in an automobile accident.  Due to his ongoing recovery, he was unable to appear in the video.  Now, I am not a callused monster.  I am very glad that he is resting and recovering.  I certainly don't want to see him come back before he is all better.  We've seen how that goes in the past with people (actors, singers, what-have-you) being sick or hurt and returning back to work far too soon and just making their health worse.  I am glad he is taking the time he needs to get better.  And if that meant missing shows and appearances and the like, I wouldn't have any bit of problem with that.  But a video?  Again, I'm sure there is a very good and valid reason behind it, but it just doesn't sit well that an entire music video was shot without one of the members.  Was there really no way of delaying it just a bit?  A show/performance/appearance is one thing, but a video?  A video lasts a long, long time.  It's not like he's gone for 2 years doing his MS.  He hurt his nose.  Unless, of course, his injuries are more serious than they are letting on.  I suppose that's always a possibility.  I won't even give voice to the other thoughts swirling around in my head about what could be going on behind the scenes.  I will just assume that what we are hearing is the truth, the full truth, and nothing but the truth.  If that's the case, well, then, it seems odd that they couldn't wait a bit longer for him to recover before shooting and promoting.

Now, despite all of that, let me just make clear that I still like the song, these two things excepted.  It's cute.  It's catchy.  The four boys did a great job.  I liked that they were dressed better and that their clothes and appearances were less distracting.  So the video isn't entirely memorable (except for the glaring missing member), but it's not bad.  Lots of close ups of cute boys singing.  For most Shawols, we don't ask for much more than that, do we?  In the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that I am not like most Shawols.  While I love the music, I'm not all fangirly for SHINee.  I don't know why and I don't know if this is a permanent affliction (I have decided that Onew is my bias, at least for now, but I'm still not gaga for any of them in that way), but I'm okay with it for now.  In fact, I'm actually quite pleased to like a group solely for their musical product and not all the rest of it.  I'm good with it.  I'm great with it.  Sorry if that makes me the odd-one out.  I don't know if I can legitimately call myself Shawol.  I don't even have a SHINee Pinterest board.  I know, right???  Crazy that.  So for me, I was kind of just meh on the whole video.  I can tell you however, that my full Shawolic friends were CRAZY for it.  Taemin especially was getting a lot of love from them, the true Shawols.  And Minho.  And Key and Onew too.  They appreciated all the screen and sing time that Taemin had.  Cool.  I'm happy they were happy and I am therefore going to assume that this was pretty much the case and consensus across Shawoldom.  So congrats boys on another great release!  I look forward to hearing the rest of the album.

SHINee's been busy promoting their new album on the airways.  Here are three performances on the major music shows from the past few days.  As an extra bonus, the Music Core and Inkigayo both also feature the song SHINe in addition to Why So Serious.

Music Bank 26 April

Music Core 27 April

 Inkigayo 28 April


And finally, before I sign out, just a quick note about GD's on-stage injury during his first Osaka concert over the weekend. It's supposed to be a minor injury and he's supposed to be just fine. I hope that is truly the case and he makes a full and speedy recovery. Lots of love to both he and Jonghyun! Be careful out there guys - your fans hate to see you hurt!

Have a great week addicKts!  Thanks for stopping by!

It's Monday and It's Morning {Monday Morning Therapy with Dongsaeng}

Greetings dear AddicKts!  And how was your weekend?  Good and restful?  Good and not restful?  A mix of both?  I hope that it was great and that you are prepared for a new week!  If not, well, do what I do, fake it til you make it.  Even if you don't "make it" until Friday afternoon.

What should we talk about today?  I haven't the foggiest notion.  Well, actually, there is one thing on my mind.  What else could it be but Psy?  Psy oppa has done it again.  He released his new MV for Gentleman over the weekend and it's already out there.  How do I know it's out there?  For one, allkpop.com told me so.  Gentleman broke the record for most number of views in a single day.  Beating out the Biebs.  Again.  I also know it's "out there" because my brother-in-law, who has an appreciation for all things ridiculous and funny, "liked" it on Facebook.

My thoughts on this?

Do you really want to know?

Okay, but don't shoot the messenger.

My eyes are rolling, and I'm saying, "Oh brother, here we go again."

Now, please don't get me wrong.  I like Psy.  I liked Psy long before Gangnam.  I even like Gentleman (though I don't think my kids should be watching it) and had it stuck in my head all weekend.  I like that Psy has been successful and has made a name for himself.  I like that it has brought attention to the world of KPop.  But, my question is, is it the right kind of attention?  We've hashed this out on the blog before, so I won't go too deep into my opinions, but I don't like that many see Psy, and as an extension, KPop, as just a laughable phenomenon.  I realize that Psy is, at his core, trying to be an entertainer and using humor and satire as his vehicle for success.  I appreciate and respect and love that about him.  It's what drew me to him.  I'm all for a good laugh.  And Gangnam and Gentleman, and all of the many, many others are good for just that.  But, I have an affinity for KPop and Korean culture in general and so that laughing comes with a whole heap of respect.  Is that what he gets though through this worldwide popularity?  Is it laughter with appreciation and respect?  Or are people just laughing at the goofy Asian guy dancing like an idiot?  Does it help cross borders or perpetuate stereotypes?  I know, I know...it's just good, fun music, so chill the heck out, right?  I know I should.  I just tend to go on the defensive anytime I hear people mock the man and the genre.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the end result of the Psy phenomenon is for the world of KPop as a whole and leave it at that for now.  I do wish to extend my wholehearted congratulations though to Psy in his already very successful release of this new song and video.  And to show that I harbor no true ill-will, here it is, in case you were stranded on a deserted island without internet over the weekend and missed it.


Wanna see it live too? Well, you know, recorded live, I'm not offering any giveaways or anything cray cray like that ;)  This was from Gentleman's debut at the HAPPENING concert.


We also can't talk Gentleman without mentioning the originators of the dance, Brown Eyed Girls in Abracadabra. Now, it was all done on the up and up, no one stole or ripped off or plagarized, so let's not start in on that. Ga In is obviously in the MV, so it's not like there was anything sneaky or nefarious, so let's not play any of the fan war games, huh?  I just want to give props to BEG and help spread the love where the love deserves to be spread.

Psy also credits another man as being the inspiration behind the dance this time around. Any guesses? As if you don't already know...hahahaha...silly Dongsaeng. Obviously we are all equally obsessed over this person and know anything and everything ever having to do with him, right?  This site here has a transcript of the tweets between the two (including the translation made by a fan for those a little rusty in our Korean).

Speaking of Twitter and GD... did you see GD's tweet after the HAPPENING concert?  I love when the YG family supports each other, don't you? <3  Especially when it involves me getting to see a picture of my GD baby.

Speaking of GD, one last story to tell you.  Friday night I was in a mood.  I don't know why (ok, yes I do - Mother Nature likes to play with us poor women, doesn't she?).  I was exhausted and grumpy...at 6:30pm.  All I wanted to do was go to bed, but it was too early.  I wasn't in the mood for dramas.  I wasn't in the mood for American tv.  I just was grouchier than I have been in a very long time.  The Husband was out with a friend, so I was on my own for entertainment.  And then, genius struck.  I thought of the absolute perfect cure-all.  Duh.  How could I have been so silly as to forget the magic of Korean variety shows?  What a better way to crawl out of my sour mood than a little Hwasin showcasing none other than GD talking about dating?  Helllooo!  Brilliant!  And worked like a charm!  Have you seen it yet?  DramaFever has it subbed in case you haven't gotten around to it.  He looks absolutely dreamy here.  I want to watch it over and over and over again.  Let that be a lesson to us all.  Need a pick-me-up when nothing else will satisfy?  Korean variety shows, especially those with GDragon, are a sure-fire cure to banish all your grouchiness.  I was 100% cured and quite pleasant the rest of the evening.

Now, I think I've blabbered on for long enough. I will let you get on with your day.  I wish you all the best today and this week.  Thanks for stopping by!

Unnie's WWU: Unnie Speaks!!

Since this is a Wednesday Write Up, not a review, I can talk about anything I want to.  First up, I apologize for not keeping up w/ my WWUs for the last couple of weeks.  After my trip to So Cal I went through a little post trip depression.  I missed my friends & the excitement & I just wanted to go back for more Big Bang.  Like a magic spell or hypnotism.  I LOVE my family but for the first time, in a REALLY long time, I did something just for me & as a result, I had a hard time accepting that my vacation was over.  A little post vacation blues if you will.  I decided that it was time for me to "reboot" myself.  I took a little break from all things K related to help me get past the blues.  Not completely cutting myself off.  After all I still had Full House 2 to watch.  I am so addiKted to that lovely piece of not serious fluff.  It has been the perfectly ordered medicine for my blues.  Minus the long weekend wait for the next episode.  That I don't like.  But the flip side of that is that I actually do, to a certain degree, look forward to Monday mornings.

So many wonderful things have been happening in the world of all things K.  Music videos, scandals, law suits ended, concerts, new shows, musical award show wins, MTV European Awards, & the world Star Craft competition.  So many things to talk about.  I don't even know where to begin.  Too many topics for my poor ahjumma brain.  So instead of talking about one thing I have decided to talk about all sorts of things that I've noticed but haven't really commented on just recently.  

*rubbing hands together* where to start? where to start???  

How about with this week's release of Lee Seung Gi's (aka Dimple)  latest Mini Album, "Forest".  It is a beautiful album.  And the first, hopefully not the last, song off the album to be get it's own MV & honestly the MV is really lovely.  That is the actual adjective I used when the video came to an end.  "Lovely" How often do I use that word?  Almost never.   And Lee Seung Gi's voice is amazing.  I loved the MV & the song.  But don't let me be the only one enjoying it.  See for yourself.  

Official Lee Seung Gi MV for Return (Looking Back):

See?  Lovely.  Perfectly lovely MV.  

Next up to talk about...(these btw are in no particular order)

Did I ever mention the fact that I am a PC gaming widow?  Yes, yes I am.  My husband loves online video games.  His current poison is DiabloIII.  He & our 14 yr old monstrosity play against each other a lot.  It would be more but I have strict usage rules for the kids.  Anyway a couple of weeks ago CA came to me excitedly to report on something K related to me.  The huge Star Craft World Competition.  On Nov 17th & 18th Professional Star Craft players around the globe competed against one another in this global competition.  it took place in Shanghai this year.  it also included World of Warcraft players as well...

From the actual Webpage:

"The field has now been narrowed to the 32 best StarCraft II players and 10 best World of Warcraft Arena teams—each of whom will face off for more than $500,000^* in prizes and the title of world champion."

Now granted I didn't tune in, neither did CA.  But he was giddy that he could tell me about something that had to do with my AddiKtion.  Usually it's the other way around.  Although he hardly ever gets excited when I try & tell him about this or that.  His typical reaction is to just nod his head benignly, smile & say, "Oh that's nice."   Still I loved his participation.  What a sweetie for trying to keep clued into the K world.  

Let's see what's next?  Ahhh yes, there was the HUGE scandal that wasn't really a scandal at all when IU accidentally Tweeted a pic of her & Eunhyuk's (of Super Junior fame) picture was released of her in her jammies.  And everybody either cheered them on or freaked out that they were "possibly" in bed together.  is it because they're Naughty Naughty?  Nah. According to IU's peeps it was taken on a day when IU was really sick & Eunhyuk came to visit her & try to make her feel better.  What is the real story?!?!  Oh the heck cares?!?  Really.  If they are dating, good for them!  If they are just friends, good for them!  What happens to them in their personal life, should stay their personal life.  IMHO I hope they find happiness, whether it's together or not I don't care.  There was also the cry of they did it on purpose as a publicity stunt.  People get better lives.  Step away from the magic box & stop jumping to conclusions & "judgments"   Whether it was legit or a set up who cares.  Not me.  It was a cute picture of them both.  And anytime Eunhyuk wants to come & take a pic with me, I'll be happy to participate.  Ahem...in my jammies or out of them.   >:)

And how stinking cute is GD's dad when he brags about what a good son GD is & how proud he is of him?!?!  Omo!!  Omo!!  So cute!  What a sweet dad.  Just the idea of getting a weekend stay at their new vacation house sounds wonderful.  I love that his mom decorated a room just for GD & that his dad was very specific in that the "Ji Yong Crayon" room would not be rented out, ever.  Fine by me, as long as GD is staying there the same weekend I am.  Let's just keep that info from CA when I ask him if I can go by myself for vacation to Seoul.  I have no intention of telling him I plan to stalk oppas in person.  

As for awards? Well, Psy took home the award for Music Video of the year from the MTV Euro Awards & I say good for you Psy oppa!  You rock.  Well done.  I'm also happy to report I still hear "Gangnam Style" on the radio here pretty regularly.  yesterday I saw an article that said he was up for "Man of the Year" from Time Magazine.  I was so happy for him.  Fingers crossed he wins, he gets my vote.   Then today I saw this article from "Gawker", talking about how Bill O'Reilly recently dedicated an entire segment to Psy & the "Gangnam Style" MV, & it's popularity.  Although all O'Reilly & his idiot sidekick "Dr" Albow manage to do, is prove their stupidity, racist tendencies, & the fact that they are in fact cut off from the real world, by simply opening their mouths.  2 biggest morons on the planet IMHO right now.  But I want you guys to remember that not all conservatives are like Bill O'Reilly.  He's a special kind of stupid all on his own.  I know lots & lots of conservatives that are great, loving, compassionate, people.  Me?  I don't talk politics.  I keep all my political feelings to myself.  Trust me I am informed & have strong opinions BUT they are my business & no one else's.  To quote my daughter whom I just overheard telling off her brothers, when they started arguing, "End of discussion!"  hehehehe...it was seriously so awesome listening to her telling them off.  

And another awesome award, more than well deserved, was when my favorite JYJ man, Xiah Junsu, won at the Musical awards, for his performance in the musical "Elisabeth".  If anyone can get me a legal copy of that musical on DVD I will gladly kiss you.  Or you know, less creepy, pay you.  I actually cried when I read about his win & his wonderfully humble speech.  I was so happy for him to finally be recognized.  Way way way overdo.  Junsu Fighting!

But that is not the only good news for JYJ...

No our Mickey has also received praise for his latest K drama performance in I Miss You.  I admit freely I have not started this one yet.  I want to.  I really really want to.  But it's a melodrama & I have a hard time with those.  I really prefer comedy & rom/com over melodrama.  I get far too emotionally involved & have been known on more than one occasion to do the big ugly cry over a melodrama.  You know the cry...the one where you gasp for air you're crying so hard & you have snot running form your nose & your choking.  Your face gets all red & blotchy & you find yourself wondering for your sanity.  It's a TV show!  Why am I crying so hard over a TV show?  What is wrong with me?  I'm already not a pretty crier so I try to avoid those shows.  I hear great things about I Miss You though & am just waiting for it to either get at least 1/2 way through it's live airing before I start or I might wait till Winter break & just marathon it one day.  It would help if we got a nice big snow storm during winter break & the kids & I were stuck in the house.
{^_-}

And then last night I heard the most amazing news!!  Best news I've heard all year long.  A few months ago you remember I went off & did a serious post about my frustration with the treatment that our beautiful JYJ received in their home country from certain entertainment affiliates.  To date still my most read post, in a 24 hour period, on TCA.   Well last night, a friend posted the news on FB & Twitter that the JYJ/SMEnt court battle has come to a close.  That is MY Christmas Miracle, my fellow AddiKts.  Have you heard?  Allkpop released the news first here.  And I was so excited.  I had a difficult time falling asleep last night.  And it kept me going this morning as I battle a sore throat & stuffy head.  And all I could think was that now maybe we'll get to see our boys on Korean Music shows finally.  Inkigayo Mnet etc...  Maybe Jaejoong's wish to be on an episode of Running Man will come true & I was giddy!!  Until that same friend posted this article quoting the responses of the major stations in SK to the news of the dropped suits.  Which in my opinion translates into KBS is fine with having the boys on their shows.  However, MBC & SBS are too cowardly to say they'll have them on their channels because they haven't yet been given the "all clear" from SMEnt or it's allegedly corrupt President.  But I am cautiously optimistic that it will all have a happy ending for JYJ.  If anyone deserves the "Happily Ever After" ending, it's JYJ.  Don't you think?  

Now you may be asking, "Unnie do you think it was your article that blew the whole thing over & caused SMEnt to finally give our guys a break?"  Well....*blushing* you said it, not me.  {{Giggle.  Just kidding.}}  Of course I don't.  I doubt, I or my little article, had absolutely anything to do with it at all.  I'm not that naive or that vain.

Let's see I'm also watching King of Dramas, up to episode 3.  Siwon rocks the comedic timing in this one.  Way better than his performance, so far, in Oh My Lady.  So between the epic awesomeness of the hair styles in FH2 & Siwon's performance in KOD, & Dimple's new MV/album release, I am a happy happy unnie.   I'm gearing up for more holiday fun & for Winter Break & for a new year.  A new year, new dramas, new music, new music videos & more TCA blogging & reviews.  And that Addikts wraps up my WWU.  I hope you have all had a great Nov.  And I hope you have a great Dec.  I will be back next week as well.  No worries.  I'll probably disappear again as I get closer to Christmas but I will do my best to not neglect my WWU's until then.  

Saranghamnida, 

P.S. I apologize if this post rambles or makes no sense.  Like I said I am battling the beginning part of a cold & this post took all day to write because the computer screen made my head hurt so much.  So I had to keep stopping myself & starting again later.  Which means this post is probably disjointed & makes no sense in places.  I'm also on cold meds.  Ooo I am high as a kite.  Not really.  It's just Dayquil.  But it still gives me blank spots in my head.  Does that make any sense?  Plus I just had a lot of different topics & things I had been setting aside to talk about with all of you.  As usual I hope you got a giggle or chuckle & that my post made you smile at least a little.  Lots o' love guys!!

{Monday Morning(ish) Therapy with Dongsaeng} The Perfect Pilgrimage

Good morning/afternoon/evening all you wonderful addicKts you!  Boy oh boy, do I have a lot of ground to cover today.  I'll probably save some for Unnie to chat about on Wednesday, but then again, maybe not.  We'll just have to see where we go with this.

First of all, if you were following our sporadic postings on FB/Twitter, you could probably tell that we were having the time of our lives this weekend.  Seriously.  Wow.  We are talking full K-immersion.  Southern Californians?  They've got it going on when it comes to this stuff.  I texted The Husband while there and told him that I had found my personal Mecca.  Picture this - entire malls 100% Korean.  Stores, food court, clientele, everything Korean.  Holy freaking moly - it was so awesome!

Before I go any further, I realize that some of you may just want to hear about the actual concert and not just our travelogue, so for you, I will do you a favor and start with that before launching into the full tale of our travels and time together.  See, I'm still on the post-concert high and feeling very generous.  I love the whole world and everyone in it today.  I saw Big Bang.  Big Freaking Bang.  In person.  They were in the same arena as little ol' me.  TOP, Daesung, Taeyang, Seungri, and GDragon.  They sang and danced for me (and a few other thousand-some-odd people).  It was like the crowning point of my life.  It's right up there with wedding day and the birth of my children.  Can I be perfectly honest?  It may have even been better than those events.  Don't tell my family that though - it'll be our little secret.  ;)  The whole thing was just overwhelming and is kind of a blur.  Certain moments certainly stand out though, like GD's face while singing.  That image will never leave my memory.  It's there for all time.  And I can pull it out anytime I need a pick-me-up.  I adore that man.  He is...just...yeah.  Wow.  Naughty Dongsaeng approves.  The Husband should be grateful I came home instead of becoming a groupie and following Big Bang all over the world, that's all I'm saying.  ;)

So, I don't have like the set list or anything.  I can't tell you everything that they sang.  Like I said, it's all just one amazing haze of awesomeness.  I was thrilled that GD did a full version of Crayon.  And like Unnie said in her post, we got to sing happy birthday to TOP, who's birthday was, if you're going by the time in Seoul, that night.  I videoed it same as Unnie, but again, our seats were nosebleeders, so the quality isn't the best.  However, Seungri?  Yeah, he was in a perfect spot, right there on stage and so he videoed it for us.  Wasn't that nice of him?  He's pretty amazing, that Seungri.  If you haven't seen it yet, check out this video.  TOP is absolutely totally and completely adorable!!!


They did a phenomenal job.  The whole concert was just indescribable.  The encore was amazing.  They did another, uhm, like 4-5 songs maybe?  Don't know - the number was lost in that pesky memory haze which wasn't helped by all the crazy fangirl moments like Taeyang running around the crowd without his shirt on or TOP receiving a shirt/clothing item of some kind from a fan, wiping his face on it and then handing it back to the fan.  Or the water Daesung was flinging all over the VIP section.  It was a fanatic feeding frenzy of fantastic fangirl moments.

*Happy, contented sigh*

Okay.  That's what I'm going to say about the concert for now.  Time to log all that travel now.

Unnie flew into town on Thursday and spent the day with her sister.  Then that evening she came over to my house for a bestie slumber party.  We had a lot of visitors stop by to see the guest of honor - lots of old friends from when she lived here.  She is a very loved individual which probably surprises nobody.  She's just so lovable, isn't she?  Anyway, so we partied late into the night with our old friends (well, her old friends, my current friends since I still live here and all - potato, potato).  Then Friday morning after getting kids off to school and taking care of a few things, we hit the open road.  By 4-something Friday afternoon, we were all checked in to our hotel which was literally across the street from the Honda Center - the venue for the concert.  We could see it from our room - how awesome is that?

After getting all settled in it was time to head over to meet in person a group of ladies that we have, up until now, only known online.  We've mentioned here before a Facebook group that we are members of that consists of Kpop/Kdrama fans, and over the months have grown close to many of them.  Seems weird maybe, and it's kind of hard to explain, but there it is anyway.  It's actually possible to make real friends and connections over the internet.  Who knew?  So we went to one members' home that lives in the area to meet everyone and enjoy a lovely dinner together.  There were 6 of us total from all over the country (actually, one was Canadian too) gathered together for this concert.  Meeting them was incredibly cool.  It wasn't even weird or awkward even though technically we were strangers.  It was all smiles and big ol' hugs and girly squeals from the get go.  Our hostess for the evening's husband made us the most amazing Korean meal.  Seriously so good.  We hung out and laughed and played and had a blast.  Then we hit the town!  Our hostess took us to where we could find our first installment of Korean immersion.  Oh yeah - we hit the norebang baby!  We sang our little hearts out and shocked the employee when we told her we didn't want Michael Jackson or Justin Bieber - that we were there for BigBang and we wanted KPop and only KPop.  Her response?  "But you're so..."  Our collective response?  "White?  Yeah, we know".  "Old" would have worked too.  We were shocking them all left and right this weekend.  Our hostess' husband at dinner said, "I never thought I'd live to see the day when white people would like this [Korean/Asian] stuff" (he and his wife are Chinese - it would probably make more sense if you knew that I guess - he wasn't being offensive or anything - it was actually quite hilarious).  So we started calling ourselves the 8th wonder of the world.

Saturday was LA KTown day.  This was when we got to see the all Korean malls.  And we found the 'crack' store as we so lovingly call it.  It was a store filled with Kdrama and Kpop paraphernalia.  Pictures, postcards, pens, socks - you name it, they had it.  We were like kids in a candy store.  It was a feeding frenzy.  After shopping and sufficiently draining our bank accounts and/or doing our best to keep Visa alive and healthy, it was time for the food court.  This isn't your average American food court.  Oh no siree!  It was an all Korean food court.  With real Korean food.  And a whole lot of it.  The portion sizes are gigantic!  You get a lot for your money.  It was delicious.

Dolsot Bibimbap (rice and vegetable in hot stone bowl) with all the banchan (side dishes) - $10.  Not bad for all that food.  And this picture was taken as I was finishing all I could eat.  

So we spent all day shopping and absorbing all that KTown had to offer,

Unnie found her Hyun-y!

then it was back to Orange County to get ready for the concert!  And since I already told you all about that, I'll skip to the end.  We were on such a happy high after the concert.  We all hung out in the hotel room squeeing and reliving every moment and fangirling over our boys and how hawt they all were.  Then Unnie and I dropped the other 4 back off at Miss Hostess's house and went back and crashed for the night.

Sunday we all kind of did our separate thing since we were staying separately.  The 4 went out for brunch while Unnie and I hit Huntington Beach.  Unnie grew up in the area so of course we had to go back to her beach and see the ocean before heading home.  It was lovely just sitting there in the sand, soaking up the sun and enjoying the sound of the waves.

HellO ocean!

Then it was time for goodbyes.  We met up with our friends after they finished their lunch, said our farewells, took a ton of pictures, and then we hit the road once again, Unnie and I.  After a quick detour to see her old stomping grounds, we drove back to Arizona.

Looonnnggg, boring drive of vast nothingness. Thank goodness for all that KPop we had ready on hand to keep us sane (you know, relatively speaking lol).

Then this morning I took her to the airport and she flew home.  And now here I am, going through withdrawals.  It was such a spectacular adventure and a memory I will treasure for always.  I am grateful for friends, old and new and for the shared love of Big Bang that brought us all together.  :)

Unnie and Dongsaeng - together again <3

Sorry for the long travelogue all about us.  It was just such a cool experience that I wanted to share with you all.  I hope you don't mind.  We'll get back to business soon enough.  Maybe once Big Bang leaves our country.  Until then, I can't help but be distracted knowing that they're here on American soil.  Golly gosh gee willikers - I heart those boys!

Now, it is nearly 10pm my time.  Obviously the whole "Morning(ish)" title doesn't apply to this post.  My apologies.  I had to take Unnie to the airport in the morning and then go out to lunch with my poor, sweet, neglected husband.  After that the kids were home (early release day of course) and bogarting the computer for homework or some junk like that.  Sheesh.  Homework.  Psh!  Lame.  xD  I hope you all had a spectacular weekend as well.  And if any of you were at either concert, drop us a line and let us know what you thought.  We can collectively SQUEEE together as we remember the good times.  Until next time, may your week be filled with wonderful dramas!

Thanks for stopping by!

<3



P.S.  And if you live in America - be sure to get out and vote tomorrow!
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