Hallyudorama » Korean drama

City Hunter starts airing on Lunar New Year

Hanneebuff — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:23:31 +0000

Today we are celebrating the first day of the Lunar New Year or the Year of the Water Dragon and what a better way to start it than by watching one of Korea’s top 2011 dramas, City Hunter.

I wrote last year my reservations about the drama since they said that there would be deviations from the original storyline, which is based on a Japanese manga. However, after watching the series, I thought, well, it didn’t matter that there are changes in the storyline since it served like a prequel to the City Hunter series. Besides, Lee Min Ho is so good during the action scenes that you can’t help but let your jaw drop while watching. I also love that his leading lady here, played by Park Min Young, is not the rescuing type of woman. I mean, she beat his ass in some of the scenes when he was pretending to be not-so-knowledgeable in the martial arts.

The Korean storyline goes like this. Lee Min Ho is Johnny Lee who was tasked by his adoptive father to take revenge towards five people who are responsible for the death of his father and 28 other South Korean soldiers after a mission in North Korea. Working towards the goal, he meets Kim Nana who is a Blue House agent and consequently, always gets in the way whenever he executes his plans for revenge. Of course, despite all these, they still fall in love. *swoons*

Okay, enough of the spazzing. City Hunter will start airing tonight during ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida, after PBB Unlinight (which would be around 10:30?) If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, here it is!

City Hunter Official Trailer

Lastly, I would like to say 새해 복 먾이 받으세요! (Saehae bok manhi badeuseyo!)

[NEWS] Kim Hyun Joong visits the Philippines for the second time

Hanneebuff — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 11:09:00 +0000

UPDATED

August 25 and 26 are two days of heaven for all Kim Hyun Joong fans as the singer and actor visits the Philippines the second time around.

For two days, Kim Hyun Joong’s schedule was packed with fan meetings, press conference and interviews. Last Thursday, fans lined up early in the morning to buy Hyun Joong’s Break Down album to be able to qualify for the High Five event organized by Polyeast Records. The following day, more fans were able to meet him in a meet and greet event organized by The Face Shop where Hyun Joong is the present endorser. In a press conference, one lucky fan was able to outbid others in an auction for KHJ’s rehearsal clothes, and the proceeds will be donated to a women’s center in Manila. She was also given the chance to hug and give Hyun Joong a scrap book as a gift.

Hyun Joong said in a television interview that he is open to playing with the local football team Azkals if invited and also expressed his desire to include Manila in his concert tour later this year.

Kim Hyun Joong became famous in the Philippines for his role in Boys Over Flowers as Jihoo and as Gelo in Playful Kiss, a Korean remake of the famous Taiwanese drama It Started with a Kiss.

Here are videos of his interviews:

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

KDrama Location: Nami Island

Hanneebuff — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 13:01:01 +0000

The statues of Winter Sonata stars Bae Yong Joon and Choi Ji Woo

Nami Island could very well be the mecca for all Korean drama fans. After all, this is the setting of some of the scenes in Winter Sonata which started the Korean Wave. Being big Winter Sonata fans, me and my friends decided to visit this iconic place once and for all when we went to Korea autumn last year.

Our timing could never be more perfect with the island teeming with color because of the season. We could see trees with green, yellow, orange and red leaves. It was really wonderful and we felt happy that we were able to see the beauty of the island. The only downside was that there were really a lot of people. Most were tourists but some I think, went there for a field trip because they are wearing similar shirts and have picnic baskets. It was quite difficult to find a spot where there are no people to take pictures so what we did was to go away from the usual route and traversed a different path.

We didn’t join a tour group so we went there by ourselves. We took the subway to Cheongnyangni Station and then went to Lotte Department store which is adjacent to the Korail train station. We bought tickets going to Gapyeong and arrived there after more than an hour traveling. It’s not that long because we were able to enjoy the countryside scenery (before I fell asleep). Anyway, after arriving at the station, we took the taxi to the port where we will take the boat to Nami Island. The taxi drivers already know where we are going so I was spared from speaking my broken Korean. The boat ride lasted for 5-10 minutes and then finally, we arrived. Yey!

Here are the pics that we took.

Train station to Gapyeong, near the Lotte Department Store.

Ticket to Nami Island

The stone where a poem by Gen. Nami was written. The island was named after him.

Ostriches roam the island freely. I was able to get really close but I had to run away because I thought it was going to attack the dog that was barking on it. And I learned in school that Ostriches are fast runners so yeah...

Squirrel!

The path lined with metasequioa trees, a kind of a redwood. They are really tall and the island has lots of them. This is just one of part of the island.

The bicycle ridden by the actors from the drama. It's not well maintained though. T_T

Dolls inside the Unicef house. You can buy them and help a child.

Seeing this assured me that I'm really in Nami Island. <3

Trees...

trees...

and more trees!

I love the autumn colors!

This yellow tree really caught my attention...

View from the ferry...

The replica of the snowman that was created during the first time Jun Sang and Yoo Jin first kissed. It was originally located beside the river but now, it is beside the Winter Sonata Gallery. I was sad to see it so dirty and full of vandalism. T_T

Here's the original scene from the drama Winter Sonata.

Outside the Winter Sonata cafe.

It was before the G20 summit so even the island was being prepared for it.

Last picture related to trees.

If you wanna go there the same way we did, here’s the breakdown of the expenses (one way):
Korail Train from Cheongnyangni to Gapyeong – 3,800 won.
Taxi – 4,000-5,000 won
Ferry ride – 8,000 won

There’s also a shuttle bus directly to Nami from Insadong. You need to book it a week beforehand though because it is always full. For more details, click this link to the Visit Korea website.

[NEWS] GMA7 to air hit Korean drama Secret Garden

Hanneebuff — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:15:25 +0000

Secret Garden, one of Korea’s hit television series of 2010, will be hitting the Philippine airwaves soon.

Secret Garden stars Hyun Bin who plays Owen (Kim Joo Won), a Department store CEO suffering from minor depression, and Ha Ji Won who plays Jamie (Gil Ra Im), a strong-willed stunt woman who lives with her friend after the death of her father who was a fireman.

Destined to eventually meet, Owen and Jamie stumbles upon a secret garden in Jeju Island and meets an old woman who gives them a magical alcoholic concoction. This potion enables them to switch bodies but for what purpose? The audience must keep watching to find out. The supporting casts also include Yoon Sang Hyun as Oska, Owen’s cousin and Kim Sa Rang as Yoon Seul, Oska’s ex-girlfriend. Lee Philip (The Legend) plays Director Im Jong Soo while Yoo In Na is Im Ah Young, Jamie’s best friend.

Hyun Bin became a household name in the Philippines because of his role as Cyrus (Hyun Jin Hun) in My Name is Kim Sam Soon which enjoyed an immense popularity locally. Ha Ji Won, on the other hand, was also a familiar face after her drama Hwang Jini was aired by GMA7 in the evening time slot more than three years ago.

Secret Garden will start airing on May 2 at Kapuso Network GMA7. It will replace another hit Korean drama, the Baker King, which will end within 2 weeks.

Watch the trailer at the following link: Secret Garden teaser at GMA7

credits: ieuck@youtube.com

[EVENT] ABS-CBN to start airing My Princess on Monday

Hanneebuff — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 12:55:11 +0000

Filipino Korean drama fans will once again have a glimpse of the pretty-faced Kim Tae Hee and the gorgeous Song Seung Hun as they star in the romantic-comedy My Princess which will start airing this Monday on the local channel ABS-CBN.

Kim Tae Hee is Lizelle (Lee Seol), a college student who worked a lot part-time jobs, which includes dressing up as a Korean princess, to earn money for her dream trip of going to Egypt. Meanwhile, Song Seung Hun plays Ethan (Hae Young), a diplomat who works for the Ministry of Foreign affairs and the grandson of a rich *chaebol family. One day, an announcement was made that there are moves to restore the Korean Royal family and Lizelle soon learns that her father was a Prince, making her a real-life Princess.

My Princess enjoyed such popularity in Korea that it surpassed 20% ratings in its Wednesday-Thursday timeslot during its run early this year.

My Princess will air around 5:00pm, before the drama Mula sa Puso.

*chaebol – a Korean business conglomerate

[NEWS] Lee Min Ho has a new leading lady

Hanneebuff — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 10:59:33 +0000

Lee Min Ho confirmed playing the lead role Kang Jin in the Korean remake of the famous Japanese manga/anime City Hunter months ago. However, the lead actress was still not finalized until now. So who’s the lucky girl?

It’s no other than Park Min Young who became famous for her role as the scholar Kim Yoon Shik/Hee in the history-fusion drama Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Min Young’s character is named Kim Nana who is a Blue House (Korea’s Presidential residence) bodyguard.

credit: Park Min Young's twitter

According to what I’ve read in some sites, it seems like the remake will have a number of differences from the original storyline. In the original version, the lead character is a sleazy private detective named Ryo Saeba who often chooses pretty young ladies as his client. His womanizing activities often gains him a black eye either from his clients or from his assistant Kaori Makimura who is secretly in love with him. Kaori is the younger sister of Ryo’s original partner in City Hunter Hideyuki Makimura who asked Ryo to take care of his sister before he died.

Given the initial differences in the portrayal of the lead characters (they said that Kang Jin is an MIT graduate working for the international communications network team and not someone with a shady past), we could expect more deviations on the storyline itself. I wonder how the original fans of City Hunter feels about this.

Anyway, I do hope they would still keep the womanizing, sleazy character of Kang Jin. It would be interesting to see Lee Min Ho act this one out since he’s one of the best young actors out there.

City Hunter will premiere in SBS on May 2011.

via: Dramabeans

Happy Lunar New Year everyone!

Hanneebuff — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:57:55 +0000

Today we are celebrating the Lunar New Year. To all our readers out there, we wish you a wonderful year of the metal rabbit.

새해 복 많이 받으세요!!! (Sae hae bok manhi badeuseyo!!!)

Changmin and Lee Yeon Hee of Paradise Ranch greets you a Happy New Year

You’re Beautiful, East of Eden to start airing next week

KDrama Location: Petite France

Hanneebuff — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:10:41 +0000

Welcome to Petite France

I have just started watching the drama Secret Garden starring Ha Ji Won and Hyun Bin. To my utmost surprise, I saw a familiar drama location on its first episode which is called Petite France.

Petite France was used as the location for the filming of the action movie where Gil Ra Im (Ha Ji Won) served as the stunt woman for the actress Chae Rin. Kim Joo Won (Hyun Bin) was looking for Chae Rin and mistook Ra Im for her after the sleepy lights man pointed her to him. After realizing that mistake, Joo Won had to return Ra Im to the filming site and saw her in action. Let’s just say, she started occupying his mind from that moment onwards.

Joo Won is amazed at Ra Im

Filming the action movie

Joo Won confronts Ra Im about her work

Petite France is located at Gapyeong-Gun, Gyeonggi Province. As the name implies, it is a French cultural village set in the Korean country side. It has 16 French-style buildings where visitors can experience French food, clothing and household culture. There is also a status of the famous Little Prince and an amphitheater. If you come at the right time, you might chance upon and enjoy the French film festival.

I first learned about Petite France through another Korean drama Beethoven’s Virus starring Jang Geun Suk, Lee Ji Ah and Kim Myung Min back in 2008. Most of the scenes in the drama were shot there.

Scene from Beethoven's Virus

When my friends and I visited Korea October last year, this place was included in the itinerary just because we love Maestro Kang so much. Beethoven’s Virus was being played in one of the rooms and the actors’ autographs were also displayed.

Where do you want to go?

Beethoven's Virus is playing in one of the rooms

Jang Geun Suk's autograph

Are we still in Korea?

The Little Prince

"It's not a hat, it's a boa constrictor digesting an elephant." - The Little Prince

Maestro Kang's Office

The Amphitheater

Petite France is open from 9:00am-6:00pm. To get there, take a Korail train from *Cheongnyangni station in Seoul to Cheongpyeong Station which departs every 50 minutes. The trip takes almost one hour and then take a bus or taxi from the train station to Petite France. There’s also a shuttle bus from Cheongngyani to Petite France six times on weekdays and eight times on weekend.

Admission fees:
Preschoolers (ages 3-7) 5,000 won (group admission of kindergarten 3,000 won)
* Youths 6,000 won (group 4,000 won)
* Adults 8,000 won (group 6,000 won)
※ Group – more 20 people
※ Free admission for overnight guests.

To get more information about Petite France, visit the official site of the Korea Tourism Organization here.

*To go to Korail’s Cheongnyangni Station, take Subway Line 1, exit 4-5, walk towards Lotte Department Store.

[NEWS] Cinderella’s Sister airs tonight at ABS-CBN

Hanneebuff — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 10:01:42 +0000

l-r, t-b: chun jung myun, moon geun young, taecyeon, seo woo

We are all familiar with the story of Cinderella right? As children, we were told of how a young, pure-hearted girl finds her Prince Charming after she accidentally leaves her shoe in a haste to flee the ball. But, have you ever wondered about the story of Cinderella’s Sister?

Korean romantic drama Cinderella’s Sister is a twist to the classic Cinderella story. Korea’s little sister, Moon Geun Young is Zaren (Eun Joo), a cynical, angst-filled teenager who suddenly finds herself having a sister named Briana (Hyo Sun), played by Seo Woo, and a father after her mother decides to marry a rich *makgeolli manufacturer.

Briana is the typical, pretty rich girl. Always surrounded by people who always adored and dotted on her, including Zaren’s mom, she grew up carefree and a little reckless, which of course, made Zaren dislike her. However, despite Zaren’s bitter outlook in life, Timothy (Ki Hoon), a man working for Briana’s father, decided to take an interest on her. Briana has always admired Timothy but he only considers her as a little sister. And thus, the drama unfolds.

Cinderella’s Sister will start airing tonight at ABS-CBN after Martha Cecilia’s Kristine Series and replacing Perfect Match.

*makgeolli – an alcoholic beverage native to Korea with milky color and made from fermented rice and wheat.

Random Posts

Loving My Princess

Hanneebuff — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:22:05 +0000

Looks like I’m gonna have my first crack drama for the year 2011 with the perfect-faced Kim Tae Hee and hottie Song Seung Hun starring in the romantic-comedy series My Princess.

My Princess has been in the drawing board since last year and finally, we now have an idea of what the drama is all about. Kim Tae Hee is Lee Seol, a college student who has a crush on her professor and dreams of going to Egypt for a vacation, which is actually the reason for her preposterous moneymaking schemes. Song Seung Hun, on the other hand, is Park Hae Yeong, a diplomat who belongs to a *chaebol family. In short, he is the perfect guy. One day, a decree was ordered that the Royal Family will be reinstated in Korea and Lee Seol soon learns that her father was a Prince, making her a real-life Princess.

I admire Kim Tae Hee for her pretty face but not much of her acting since I still despise her role in Stairway to Heaven as the eye-bulging sister of Choi Ji Woo. However in this series, she is simply hilarious and her acting is effortless. She is so adorable most especially when she was musing about her dream trip to Egypt, which included her professor. Now, who could beat a little college crush? I think the role is really perfect for her because I couldn’t think of any other pretty actress who could play her part, aside from Song Hye Kyo.

Song Seung Hun is a revelation here. The bland acting is gone. Whohoo!!! In place was the guy who knew that he is good looking and uses it to the best of his advantage. It was funny how he sized up Lee Seol’s professor and convinced himself that the Professor was no match for him. I just have to protest his choice of girls. Why did he like that ajumma-looking curator who calls him oppa? She looks older than him!!!

The drama is just in its second episode and I’m already loving it. Kim Tae Hee and Song Seung Hun already clicked from the start and I giggle like a school girl during their interactions. Also, I thought that the revelation will come later on but wow, the writers were fast. They already got over the initial hurdle of how to divulge that Lee Seol is the Princess. I am anticipating how they will portray Korea as both having a government and the Royal family. Will she become like Queen Elizabeth? Last but not the least, how will she find her Prince? (I am totally crushing on Song Seung Hun. He is so good looking here, I don’t know what he did!)

My Princess airs at MBC every Wednesday-Thurs, 9:55pm (KST).

*chaebol – is a business conglomerate, mostly family owned. Think Go Jun Pyo of Boys Over Flowers.

Hallyudorama » Korean drama

City Hunter starts airing on Lunar New Year

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Happy Lunar New Year everyone!

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