Who is this for?

If you’re interested in Korean music, drama, TV, film, food or culture; or maybe even similar topics of other Asian countries, then this could be for you. But it’s mainly for me.

I found that I absolutely loved something that other people around me didn’t understand or weren’t interested in, and that frustrated me a lot. When something ‘big’ happened (in my opinion), I had no one to share that news with or discuss it with. I have friends who get updates regardless of whether they care or not, but I wasn’t satisfied with that, so I needed another outlet. So here we are. Not many people read long blog posts anymore, so this is really just for me to get all my mind ramblings out there.

How did it start?

You could say that my interest got reignited in 2016, and my intrigue escalated quickly into an obsession within a very short period of time. Surprisingly to some, it wasn’t due to Kpop, but because of K-dramas and Korean TV shows. However, I actually got my first proper introduction to anything Korean back in 2009, when my best friend came back from her travels and told me to watch this K-drama called ‘Boys Over Flowers’, or ‘Boys Before Flowers’ as we knew it back then (BBF is actually how we referred to it). The love/hate relationship between Gu Jun Pyo (Lee Min Ho) and Geum Jan Di (Ku Hye Seon) was addictive. Their school life seemed so different to mine, yet there were so many elements of their life that I could relate to. It was the emphasis on culture, their upbringing and the pressures of society, that I had no idea would strike a chord with me.

Even though I forgot about it for a good few years, all of a sudden in 2016, I revisited BBF and it brought back all those memories. I remembered how much I liked the lead actor back then, and I wanted to watch another drama he was in… and that’s where the madness started. I got introduced to more interesting characters and talented actors and wanted to explore their previous work too. One thing led to another, and I’m sure I’ve now watched well over 100 K-dramas to date – that’s in the space of 2 years! I was a little bit shocked myself when I did the maths. I’ve actually written down each of the dramas I’ve watched as I went along, and maybe I’ll put a list together so you can take a look if you’re interested. It’s definitely a mix of some really good, as well as some really bad ones out there.

How did I get into Korean music?

I was already familiar with some Kpop, mainly the legends that are Bigbang. I wouldn’t say I was that much of a serious fan back then either. And like everyone else, I was also ignorant when it came to Korean music and didn’t really know there was more to it than Kpop, until I discovered Jay Park. He blew my mind with his song ‘Drive’ at the time. I didn’t understand all the words, yet I couldn’t stop listening to it. In the past, I had only heard PSY’s Gangnam Style, and although it was fun and catchy, I didn’t take Korean music seriously, and also (shamefully) labelled it all with the Kpop paint brush.

I think I actually saw the meme that JRE posted on Instagram via the discover page, which made me laugh a lot. The beautiful colours and well produced music video hooked me enough to look it up on YouTube, and the rest is history. When I was going through my iTunes to research this, I found the very first Korean album I downloaded… Jay Park’s ‘Everything You Wanted’, which is still one of my favourite albums to date. My fairly new fan status might make you judge me and you may even think that I can’t be a die hard Korean music fan, especially as I haven’t put in the years of dedication like others. But trust me… I’m an all or nothing type of person and I probably know a bit too much about all things Korean compared to some fans out there.

So, what can you expect?

I’m really fortunate enough to be able to go to a lot of the Korean gigs and concerts that have been taking place in London over the past couple of years, so I’d really like to share some of my experiences – from stories to photos and videos. I also love discovering new music, so expect some reviews.

I went on my dream holiday to South Korea in Aug/Sep 2018, so I’d love to share those experiences too – I have enough photos and videos to last a lifetime! Photography is a passion, and I’m hoping to build on my video editing skills too, so watch this space.

I enjoy cooking and trying out Korean recipes – you may even get a few of those on here. I’ve learnt so much about the culture through TV and music, so I’m sure I’ll have a thing or two to talk about on here.

And I also enjoy watching dramas from other Asian countries – Chinese, Taiwanese and Thai mainly. So now and again, I’d love to share my thoughts on those too.

So here’s to officially starting this story about my life right now… untitled.