'Twas a Good Year

As old age gets the better of me and I grow sappier and more sentimental by the day, I'm finding it important to take a step back and reflect on what I've done and the memories I've made.  So, here's basically a recap of the highlights of my 2o1o year.  

• Annual winter get togethers with my closest friends - including sleepovers at Steph's and restaurant dates with Jen and Rach.  Gotta keep up the tradition!!
• Nueces Oaks - best off campus living experience ever with the best roomies ever.  Making shao mai, crepes, pizza, cabbage soup, tomato soup, etc in our big ass kitchen, hanging out in the living room, barhopping together, watching movies together, walking to Ken's and Yogurt Spot late at night..spring 2010 was my best and most fun semester at UT.  Ironically also my worst semester academically.  ha ha.
• Chinese Dance Recital - number...3? 4?  I've lost track.  I think this one will be hard to forget though because of the awesome dancers I got to work with and meet.  The dances themselves....meh, I always forget my part anyway.
• Eva's 21st - Found the secret formula to having fun on 6th - all you need are three single and well-dressed girls.   And I learned that spending Sunday nights on 6th are surprisingly fun.
• Making a video - I'm finally a starrrrrrrr!  haha not really...more like my most embarrassing moments caught on camera.  But it was OK because I had 3 other equally dorky partners in crime.
• Interning in OKC - Now 500% sure that 1) I cannot survive without a roommate, 2) I need to make a living off of BS-ing presentations and powerpoints, and 3) OU people are not as scary as UT people make them out to be. 
• Family vacation to Orlando for my birthday - FINALLY after years of delay got to visit the original Happiest Place on Earth and the Harry Potter park.  It was maaaagical.  'Nuff said.
• Client project - Learned a lot about people and reality.  Both suck.  But....you gotta work with what you got.  Sadly I'll have to live with both of those until I die.
• Flag Football - Kinda hard to forget since it's etched on my arm now like Harry Potter has "I must not tell lies" etched on the back of his hand....at least I know that I can catch an interception and I'll have a conversation starter at awkward socials.
• Texas State Fair - The most artery clogging day of my life.  I tasted almost 15 different types of fried food.  The day concluded with one of the best endings I've ever had.  Eva and me basically stalked 5 white guys in the back of a truck for half an hour as they serenaded us with a book and their number.  Too bad I forgot it.

Wow, coming up with 10 things to list was surprisingly not painful at all.  Guess that goes to show how 2o1o was better than I could ever have imagined it to be.  Then again that's probably because I didn't have any expectations for an exciting year.  Looking back though, this year seems to be a turning point in my life.  Kind of the beginning of the end in that I'm preparing to let go of my college years and truly transition from being a kid to an adult.  Don't worry though, the kid inside me will always live, just like Calvin and Hobbes.  You can never throw away Disney movies, chocolate milk, and stuffed animal pals.  

A collage of some pictures I had handy on my laptop

2o1o: A Dramatic Year

ahaha, I know, I come up with the best puns in the world, because I'm just funny like that.  2o1o was definitely a really memorable year for me drama-wise because I think this is the fastest, most efficient drama watching I've done in a couple of years.  Over the break I've been averaging finishing a drama in about 3 days (finished 5 already after around 2 weeks of break) and after basically having watched no dramas at all this fall semester.  Still have a lot to catch up on, but here are my top dramas for this year that I've seen so far, in no particular order, because I've been scarred by rankings in high school and truly believe that everyone can be a winner.

OBGYN
Korean dramas have really gotten a hold of how to make good medical dramas, and this is no exception.  It's ten times more heart wrenching too when it deals with kids.  *sigh*  With Jang Seo Hee, a veteran actress, leading the drama and a well-written script, this drama was a winner in my books, despite the less-than-excited ratings.





Woman Who Still Wants to Marry
Already ranted about this here right after I finished watching it, so I won't say any more.  Well, except one thing - I hope that I don't become as obsessive about marriage as Da Jung is in the future.

Prosecutor Princess
After finishing this more than a week ago and two subsequent dramas later, I'm still thinking about this drama. I think that says something about how good this drama was.  Yes, it was 80% cliche.  But it had everything I wanted in a romantic comedy- charming characters, great chemistry, memorable moments, and a satisfying ending.  Especially the ending; it was a win-win situation in that it surprised me and was and reasonable/realistic.  The leads did an excellent job in leading the drama; it made me evaluate my opinion of Kim So Yeon and Park Shi Hoo's acting.

Coffee House  
This drama has plenty of glaring faults, but the unconventional love story between Kang Ji Hwan and Park Si Yeon completely redeems it.  Their relationship is so different than what you see in K-dramas because they were best friends, the kind where you could predict the other's action, before becoming lovers (not to mention the added twist that he was the husband of her good friend).  Although I'm really curious as to what Kang Ji Hwan's next project is going to be because I want to see him in something different.  So far the characters he's played all have a similar eccentric gene in them.  He needs to branch out!

Mischevious Kiss
I know, I know.  This is the third time I've watched the same thing and people have been bashing poor Kim Hyun Joong over this drama, but I really enjoyed watching this.  It was one of the three dramas I was able to watch this fall, and totally worth putting hwk on hold for 16 hours (and great study breaks with the seven 10 minute long webisodes).  To be honest, I must give a lot of this credit to the actors and actresses in the drama- which includes Kim Hyun Joong.  The script was acceptable and definitely not new for me, the directing was passable after getting past the horrendous first episode and too obvious Goong influence, and the cinematography was nothing special.  It was the chemistry between the characters and the heart that they played their characters with, not only the main but also the side characters such as Seung Jo's family, Ha Ni's friends, and Joon Gu, that made the drama shine and charm viewers.  Ha Ni should also be awarded most well-dressed drama heroine, because her outfits were adorable.

Will It Snow At Christmas?
I swore off melodramas since watching I'm Sorry I Love You since they're too emotionally taxing, but decided to go back on my word with this one.  Glad I did, because it was refreshing.  Oddly, I kinda missed the heart-wrenching melodramas that make Korean dramas laughing stalks and perfect parody material.  It has its imperfections, but served its purpose and was satisfying.

Other dramas that I expect to make my list of top favs for 2o1o:

My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox
Pasta
Sungkyunkwan Scandal
Secret Garden
Creating Destiny


Eye Candies to Look Out For

Go Joo Won & Jang Seo Hee

Go Joo Won - He has a quiet tenderness that's hard to overlook.    


Park Shi Hoo - In previous dramas, he was kinda there...and annoyingly pale.  I can forgive the last part though after watching his performance in Prosecutor Princess.  His acting isn't superb (still a little stiff and expressionless to be honest), but I am curious as to how he will do in his next project.

Song Joong Ki - 2o1o was definitely his breakout year.  Cute baby face kid that can act.  Perhaps the next Jang Geun Suk?

Go Soo - The eyes, it's all in the eyes I tell you.    

Turning a new leaf.

Finally, my hard earned winter break has come!  What a crazy semester it was; the craziest one since high school, to be honest.  Three history classes with ~50 pages of reading in each per class, a client project that was doomed to fail, a difficult Japanese class, and on top of that, a broken (dominant right) arm!  I've never felt so proud of my end of semester grades in such a long time.  On top of that, it's the first time in a while I didn't wait till the middle of break to look at grades!  heeheehee *dorky face*  Aaah.....is this the sweet feeling of accomplishment?  keke.

Now I can concentrate on looking forward to Japan and enjoying my break :)  And hopefully get into the habit of blogging again.  Hope to see you soon!  And since my previous posts were all of what I wore today, I feel the need to keep the trend.  So here's what I wore today and for the previous two days too.

P.S- Like the new layout?  Thought it was time for a change, especially since I feel like I just turned a new leaf too.  ahahahaha..like the cheesy pun?  Yah, I know, I'm funny like that.

P.P.S - Like my new camera?  Can you tell a difference from the old?  Trying out a Canon this time...the one thing that annoys me with this particular camera though is that it relies on AA batteries >_>

P.P.P.S - A week before christmas!!!  eeeeeks!