Lost in Japan

Please click pictures for better view! :D

So, in one way or another, here I am in Japan! I still remember telling myself that I would come here for exchange when I first entered university. And now, I am really here. And surviving. Wow.

Contrary to what others say about being excited, perhaps it was because I was alone most of the time in the beginning when I first arrived, I actually felt really lonely during my first week in Japan. The fact that the weather was cold did not help at all. Being in a country that you are totally not familiar with, and realising that you are going to be there for another 5 months, was actually quite harsh.

But getting to meet Singapore friends after that, meeting and travelling with old friends, chatting online with my family (yes I never thought I would do this), getting into the rhythm of it all, make me feel a little better. The weather which started to turn warm also made my heart feel lighter :)

Kanda River, on the way to school

肥後細川庭園, on the way to school

Now that I've kind of settled down, I'm going to list down some highlights of what I've been doing in Japan so far. And also a list of what are some of the places I should revisit (and not).

Gokokuji Temple 

Gokokuji Temple is a temple near my house. It's quite big and has a few cherry blossoms. I like it as this is not a tourist spot so there were really little people.

Koshikawa Botanical Gardens

Koshikawa Botanical Gardens (not the famous Koshikawa Korakuen Garden) was probably the best decision I made during my visits to cherry blossom spots. I will definitely come back here! They had this area with a lot of cherry blossoms. Other than that, they had a big other part of the park with many different kinds of trees and flowers. 

I like that there was not a lot of people. It was lively, but not crowded. 

This is another part of the garden. It feels like another world right???!!

Kyu-Furukawa Gardens

I think I came at the wrong time. This place is probably famous for its rose bed. but there were only thorns when I went... so I think I'll probably give this garden a miss the next time unless it's the season for roses.

 Rikugien Garden

After Koshikawa, Rikugien did feel a little underwhelming. The cherry blossom tree was at its full bloom though when I went, and I think it's because it's very well-maintained (?), so the tree itself was still very beautiful. But given the crowds, it might not very worth it to go back.

 Ueno Park & Tokyo National Museum

Ueno Park is a MUST GO. It was crowded, yes. But the park itself is so huge that it doesn't feel like much of a problem. There are also many museums and temples in the vicinity so you can spend the whole day here! 

My first time praying in Japan was at a shrine in Ueno Park. I felt really good afterwards, kind of like at peace? Like it was kind of telling me that everything was going to be fine :)

Tokyo National Museum. It has 3 buildings and I only went to 1 due to lack of time. Very worth a visit if you like art and history!

Tokyo Imperial Palace

I went during this special period so we managed to walk into the main palace grounds via Inui Street. It was not as magnificent as I thought. My friend and I only knew we were walking the special Inui Street after we exited the street LOL. Still this was a special event and the palace grounds is usually not opened, so it was interesting. The place was really huge!

The exit gate of Inui Street... at the point, we did not even know we were walking the open-only-once-a-year Inui Street

The East Imperial Palace grounds which is always open to the public

Chidorigafuchi Park

Hmmm the park was pretty, but nothing beats Koshikawa Botanical Gardens for me haha. It's also a little difficult to do hanami here as the trees all have a round barrier surrounding it.

Kinosaki Onsen

A must go!!! You should spend 3D2N here to enjoy fully!! There's 7 public baths, game centers, good (albeit expensive) food, temples, a ropeway (view from the top!!). Basically, it's a really good spot to just rest and relax! You should stay at a ryokan to get the full experience :) Staying at a ryokan also gives you free access to all 7 public baths for one day.

I made my own chopsticks here!

Dress up in yukatas!!

Himeji Castle

Another must go! Ignore the high admission fee! The inside of the castle is almost fully preserved, putting Osaka Castle (which I went to afterwards) to shame. Osaka Castle, while a really good museum, did not feel like a 'real' castle.  

There is this garden called Koko-en Garden near to the Himeji Castle grounds. It's also worth taking a look! 

Universal Studios Japan

Only one advice: BUY THE EXPRESS PASS, ANY EXPRESS PASS. Waiting for the queues was a torture!! 2 hours long just for one ride O_O If you like being immersed in the environment, buying cute toys, then this is the place for you. If you like roller coaster rides and think a theme park is defined by its roller coasters (like me), then maybe... USJ is not for you haha.

~

Okay I've reached the end for now. Will update more when I'm free.

School has just started and I'm starting to feel the burden of studying creeping up on me. Being a Singaporean literally means one cannot just be a bad student without feeling guilty. 

I'm going to join the Tea Ceremony Club! Other than the fact that my legs always go numb from the sitting position, the club looks fun. The people there are really nice too (how can people be that nice??? Now that I mention it, I meet a lot of nice Japanese people). Hope I get to learn the whole ceremony!!

じゃ、また！

planning for the future

Here's a quick update to myself.

Am currently undergoing an internship at URA! Might update more when it ends. But so far there's still not much work to do and I'm hoping that they pass me more stuff!

I finally finished George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four! It has been on my reading list for quite long and I finally got round to actually reading it. It hasn't been as mind-blowing as I thought it would be but it still is pretty insightful. At least it is a book that gets you thinking. 

Just saw this in April 2018 and was surprised that I have not posted this yet. I wrote this in May 2017?? So let's me just post this up now haha. 

Term break

It's been a long while since I've blogged! 

Anyway, just some updates about this semester, I've become the Vice-President of Economics Society (after much obstacles and difficulties). 

I've had some friendship problems, both with old and new friends. So far, those problems seem to have either been resolved or simply faded into oblivion for now. 

Dion has moved out of hall. I feel sad (a little betrayed initially) about that.

Exams are finally over. This semester was very hectic and just showed me how overloading can actually prove to be tiring.

I've finally gotten to watching movies at the cinema, after a long while. I watched Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them with my family. It was a pretty feel-good movie and really made me want to read Harry Potter books. But then again, I've been saying that for the longest time but haven't actually gotten around to doing it yet. 

I then watch Doctor Strange by myself. Yeap, myself. The movie was kind of exciting but it did not wow me at the same time. I'm not sure, it felt more like an introduction into the world of Doctor Strange so I guess it's as if we know something big is supposed to happen but it doesn't actually happen in the movie??? Hmm. Oh and Rachel McAdams acts in the movie so yay!! She's still so pretty hee.

At home, I just recently finished reading a whole book. Yes, that's a great accomplishment considering that I have not managed to do that for almost a whole year (according to my memory at least). It's called The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair and you can read the review in the post below.

I just started watching a korean drama called Goblin. It's only 2 episodes into the story but the beginning proves to be promising!! The cinematography is really amazing. The soundtrack also gives it this otherworldly atmosphere which is very fitting of the story. Furthermore, I feel like the story is very similar to those manga stories that I've always read about. Except that this korean drama manages to incorporate all those elements inside in a tasteful manner :)

I've also just finished watching the korean movie Secretly, Greatly. Despite some disappointing reviews about it online, I thought the movie was great. It manages to contrast what is known as the ordinary life versus the spy life, bringing about the human aspect of the main characters. The ending was kind of shitty because I felt some elements of it, like how Ryu Hwan becomes emotionally helpless at the end, was kind of stupid and dragged out. But overall, I really liked the nostalgic feeling that the movie gave off at the end as we reminisce about the ordinary life that they had a taste of.

As you can see, my life during the term break has been just that of lazing around in the house. I did try to find work, but I think that I gain higher utility from leisure (against consumption). I've finally finished buying all my secret santa gifts yay! I've also made my first sort-of kimchi which turned out quite okay.

Gonna end off here!

Review: The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I recently picked up this book again after stopping it in the past.

I managed to finish the book in a few days (yippee!). Anyway, after reading the front part of the book for a second time, the book seems more interesting than when I read it before.

Overall, the book manages to captivate me as I try to find out what happened to Nola, the fifteen year old girl who went missing and is eventually found dead. That was basically the sole source of motivation for me as I read through all 600+ pages of the book.

The writing style of the book is simple enough, but I did feel that some parts were draggy and could have been cut short. 600+ pages did seem a little long.

Ultimately, when the mystery was finally revealed, it didn't seem as 'wow' as I thought it would be. I'm not sure, maybe it was because I thought Harry would turn out to be more of a dangerous character than I thought he would be.

The little short snippets about past conversations between Harry and Marcus at the beginning of each chapter were really good though. I guess they were good because they were kept short, again emphasising my point about how some parts of the book were long-winded, especially the front (explaining why I gave up on the book the first time I tried reading it).

Overall, it's an interesting enough read if you managed to get past the first 5 chapters of long-windedness. Lots of red herrings thrown which would definitely make you want to read til the end to solve the mystery.

View all my reviews

Book Review: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Book Preview:
On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born, the third child of a wealthy English banker and his wife. Sadly, she dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual.
For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in any number of ways. Clearly history (and Kate Atkinson) have plans for her: In Ursula rests nothing less than the fate of civilization.

Since this was the first book which I have finished in a long time (maybe a year?), I decided to do a review of it. This is basically an edited, and more detailed (hence more spoilers), review of the one I did on Goodreads.

The book talks about this girl Ursula who manages to keep coming back to life. The book summary makes it rather misleading by sounding as if Ursula is fully aware of her unique abilities, but this only happens very late into the book. And only at times I think. Initially, I thought that this part was disappointing because I was really excited to see how Ursula would get into action and blow Hitler off his head. However, this wasn't exactly what happened. Rather, very little was described about her little secret mission. Only the part where Ursula shoots Hitler is described in detail. It actually happens in the first chapter. I was slightly disappointed, but after finishing the book, reading some online reviews, reflecting on it, I realised that Atkinson probably did this with reason.

She wanted to focus on how sometimes, we cannot control how life plays out. How can we know one action is 'right' or 'wrong'? Take how, when WW2 still happens, but Teddy manages to come back alive. At the same time, Nancy is alive. It seems impossible, as Ursula's previous lives have shown. But I guess this particular scenario shows how not everything is confirmed, or predicated. As how Ursula used to believe. Rather, life is also based on chance, luck and coincidence. It seems to show that there's something that's bigger than us out there; that we cannot completely control how everything goes. But at the same time, it also shows how there is always hope. Just like how Teddy didn't die. It's all about chance. There was a 10% chance of Teddy surviving, and Ursula has managed to land herself in a life where Teddy is part of the 10% that survives. I guess it's somewhat similar to the theory about parallel worlds and lives, in which out there, there is going to be a Teddy that survived even with WW2.

Also, what this book did do right is to make me sympathise with Ursula, something which books seem to lack recently. In particular, the first half of the book, where she 1) got raped, 2) sexually harassed, 3) abused by her psychotic husband, was one where I literally teared when she finally died. It has been so long since I felt genuine pity for a book character. I felt as if death was a relief for her then. Reading those chapters literally got me rooting for her and hoping that she would 'get it right' the next time.

Furthermore, the first half and second half of the book focussed on different issues, I felt. The first half was focussed on the status of the women. The discussions (or even non-discussions) in the book about rape, abortion, sexual harassment and housewivery proved how there was a stereotype and stigma against women during the 1900s. Meanwhile, the second half was focussed on the effects of war, and ultimately the loss that comes with it. Deaths are very sudden (I mean it. You grow to like a character, and a few sentences later, they are dead.) Both are very vital issues which I thought was good for a book to bring up.

I also liked how it dealt with relationships. The relationship between Ursula and Sylvie (Ursula's mother) was particularly interesting as I watched how it differed (or deterioriated??) as Ursula grew up. It was a rather surprising development because Sylvie was shown to have loved Ursula a lot when she was born, not least because Ursula nearly died during her birth. Instead, the rising indifference that Sylvie has towards Ursula and her life choices as she grew old made me wonder what was going on in Sylvie's mind. Especially given how I am pretty sure that Sylvie herself was being hypocritical with her side affair.

It might get really confusing reading the book due to its style of suddenly switching timelines. (Like, I am not always sure that Ursula has died and restarted.) Also, when jumping straight into another life of Ursula's the narrator has the tendency to also explain about past events, which made the whole reading experience rather confusing for me at times. One would also have to have great deduction abilities to know who each new character was, especially with new timelines introduced. I was very confused; I think there are at least 50 character names in the book.

Overall, I thought that the book proved to be a very interesting ride that taught about war, humanity, family and hope. Seeing how Ursula always strived to create the best possible outcome for herself, and the people around her, warmed my heart. Because, I mean, anyone could have just cared about herself and just focussed on making herself really wealthy and famous. But no, for Ursula, it was always about family and friends. Saving Bridget, saving Nancy, saving Teddy... Reading these kind of books once in a while is good for the heart haha.

On a side note, I wonder if Ursula will ever truly die. I mean, having to keep on relive your life again and again, although they might be slightly different, is going to have to suck. Especially when you are always having to relive WW1 and WW2. Even if Ursula kills Hitler, she is probably going to die in the process of that. So, she is never going to be able to enjoy life without Hitler. How does she even know for sure that the people in the world where she kills Hitler are continuing their lives? Without bearing witness to it, that life and reality cannot be confirmed. (Yeap, something I learnt in my Philosophy class about alternate realities and simulations. See the brain in a vat.)

Anyway, this book is a good read to get your brain moving. And your heart as well. With the various repetitions though, one might get bored 3/4 into the book.

Rating: 4/5

Updates

So... it's already April 2016! 

I've officially failed my target of posting at least one a month. I think I may need to try blogging on my handphone because it does seem like a much more convenient way to blog. Though, the good old-fashioned laptop/computer is still my favourite (as I am doing right now). 

Here are some major updates which I've wanted to blog about but did not have time.

1) Chiang Mai trip with USP

Look at how time flies; the project for which we went on the trip has already ended haha. The trip was really enjoyable and made me realise that Thailand might actually be a pretty interesting country to go on vacation. I shall blog more about this when I have the time. Or I might just copy and paste whatever reflections we had to submit for our graded reflections (yes, reflections are graded). 

2) HOCC

HOCC is a hall dance competition that we have in NTU. Overall, the experience was... pretty unique I would say. It was definitely the first time where I pushed myself physically for anything. I've always found pushing myself mentally much more easier than physically. Think academics > sports. Still, the experience has also left me with some disappointments and realisations about life and people, in general. Shall blog more when I feel like ranting about it.

3) Singapore Forum 2016

I was a liaison officer in the recent Singapore Forum 2016. I thought I was only signing up as an usher, with privileges to listen in on the forum. Nope, turns out it was a role as a liaison officer escorting VIPs!! I was super surprised, nervous, but also excited before taking on the role. With whatever little training we had, us volunteers (yes, we were mostly volunteers with zero experience) tried to navigate our way through the world of protocol.

Luckily, I got a pretty friendly principal (the person whom I was escorting). The 2 staffers with him were also very friendly. (I've developed a mini-crush on one of them haha). They were all Korean. 

This opportunity gave me a learning experience, to see how protocol officers work, to handle situations (and not give promises so easily), and to see how 'the world of important people' looks like. Which, actually, they look pretty much the same as us, except that there is obviously more glitz and glamour, and a lot more confidence going around the room. 

Overall, I felt the experience was really good for me! I am really grateful that I took that leap of faith then and signed up for it alone (no friend was interested in this with me)!

And, that's the low down on what went on these past 4 months. 

Right now, the final exams are coming (again!). They seem to arrive faster and faster each semester, or is it just me?? 

Anyway, I am hoping to look for a temporary job over the holidays. Hopefully, it will turn out fun! And if I am lucky, I will get to work with my friend too :)

Oh, and if anyone (by some crazy amount of coincidence and luck) who's interested is reading this, and wants JC Economics tuition, I am hoping to start giving tuition after my finals too. Preferably weekends at North-east :)

K-drama: Empress Ki, Healer

The holidays have started and I rewarded myself with some awesome dramas!

Thanks to the great recommendation by Dion, I first got introduced to Empress Ki. I have always knew about the drama (Ha Ji Won is inside, obviously I would know about it), the synopsis did not attract me enough because it seemed really similar to Dong Yi (which I have watched previously). Furthermore, 50 episodes is a really long drama.

Luckily, I pushed myself into watching it since I had nothing much to do one day. I went in without reading any spoiler and I really suggest that you do that because I got a really good surprise, which is the fact that the main character (Ki Nyang) dresses up as a male in the first 10+ episodes!!! Seriously, it's been too long since I've seen dramas with a badass girl dressing up as a guy, and people acknowledging her without caring about her gender. 

What I really liked about Empress Ki is how it espouses feminism on so many levels. From Nyang cross-dressing and attaining praise from men around her, to how she rises up within the palace amidst an environment with so many men. 

The plot of Empress Ki is also really fast-paced and holds its own pretty well, although it does get slightly sloppy in the last 10 episodes. However, the first 40 episodes are pretty amazing. In fact, I do feel like the story has lost its momentum after El Temur was killed; it was the remaining desire to see how Nyang ends up as the Empress that led me to continue watching the drama. Oh, and the last redeeming feature of the last 10 episodes is literally Tal Tal; his character is incredibly nuanced and it helps that he has the smarts like Nyang does.

To be honest, I felt like the characters of King Wang Yu and Emperor Togon were annoying throughout the whole drama (save for the last episode which was REALLY the redeeming episode for Emperor Togon; how can anyone not like him after that?). They were unexpectedly very emotional, which I guess could be argued to show how there are no stereotypes (i.e. women are supposed to be more emotional than men). They were even more emotional than Nyang, which led them to made some really weird choices. Frankly, this made me as a viewer quite irritated.

And honestly, I never really liked both of them (I skipped alot of Wang Yu's parts lol). But I guess Emperor Togon was less annoying of the both. I especially liked his interaction with Nyang when he hired her as the palace maid and constantly teased her. And like I said previously, the last few episodes really redeemed him as a character, which showed how he could have been a pretty awesome ruler if not for the various villains and people in his way.

Empress Ki is definitely a good historical drama to add to my collection. However, its 50 episodes is definitely a little off-putting. Anyway, people who like Empress Ki should also watch Hwang Jini (with Ha Ji Won again) and The Princess Man; they all have pretty solid female characters :)

The next drama I will talk about is Healer. I mainly watched it because of a mild interest in Ji Chang Wook who acted in Empress Ki, and because I thought "action drama, why not?". I was definitely afraid that it would turn out to be like City Hunter which I got slightly bored of after watching 8 episodes. However, it turned out to be similar but different; in other words, I think that Healer is a better version of City Hunter (at least for the first 8 episodes since I did not watch the later episodes of City Hunter). 

I was initially reluctant to watch this drama because I was not really a fan of Park Min Yeong. However, this drama gave me a better impression of her. I felt she became more mature and acted better in this drama. Also, she gave off a more natural feeling and look. Was it the lack of make-up/ little make-up? Either way, I felt she looked better in this drama and became more in love with her as a character as the drama went on.

Firstly, this drama is really smart. The technology inside (the glasses anyone?), the information gathering techniques and the martial arts is just amazing. This drama makes Healer feel really high-tech without being overtly showy (since Healer is supposed to be unknown by the general public right??), giving it a very realistic feel. And everyone in this drama is really smart, or has at least a certain level of common sense (yes, even the main female character Sin Yeong), making this a really fun drama to watch as you see characters trying to figure each other out. 

Secondly, this drama is very realistic. Okay, what I mean is that we do not get characters doing things which would probably seem very stupid in real life, simply for the sake of developing plotlines. For example, there was this scene where Sin Yeong knows that Healer is going off to fight, she asks him if there is going to be fighting. And when he replies yes, she immediately gets off the car and leaves Healer to do his own badass fighting, without being a burden to him. I was really scared that she would be like normal female characters who say 'okay, I'll go with you and help.' When that usually happens, I think in my mind, "Exactly what can you help him with???" Although it could be because of her trauma towards violence, dramas always make a mistake with this kind of situation and I am really glad that they didn't do that here.

Thirdly, the chemistry between the two main characters is really amazing!! Episode 15 onwards will show how. Furthermore, I like how the love between these 2 characters do not get weakened simply due to misunderstandings - a plotline that dramas use too often. Rather, there is implicit trust between them, which makes it a very enjoyable love line to watch.

Fourth, every, and I mean every, character in this show is interesting to watch. Although there certainly are minor characters, these characters do not get simplified into one-dimensional ones. They each have their own motivations and you can certainly feel what's driving each of them; and let me tell you, their motivations are all very rational, a very delightful change from dramas with characters who just do bad simply for the sake of being bad - like, why would anyone in the right mind do that? Supporting casts are also developed very nicely, that little recap for Healer's teacher in Episode 15 was pure gold. I liked how the drama focused on different relationships, rather than simply the romantic ones.

Lastly, the soundtrack is amazing. They even got this Danish band Michael Learns To Rock to write an OST called Eternal Love. Like WOW. The sound effects are also really fitting for this drama - all the camera-zooming sounds really made this drama feel all that much like an action drama.

Okay, enough of my praise for this amazing drama. But seriously, its plot is amazing, even for the last episode (which usually ends up being a filler episode, but this does not happen in Healer). Although, I would have liked more of a complete ending which tied up all the loose ends. But then again, I guess the remaining loose ends is also part of what makes the ending episode a good one - it leaves you wanting more. 

Oh, and Healer made me start liking Ji Chang Wook, a much needed save after my dislike of his character in Empress Ki. He was just totally cool in this drama - smart, good-looking, knows how to fight.

And that's all for my drama praise! I am really lucky to have picked dramas which I end up liking; I would have hated it if I ended up feeling I wasted my time watching it. 

I shall now go on a search for another awesome drama before my term break ends hee.

University Life

It has been approximately 3 months since I started university.

Here's a few of my thoughts on what university life entails after having experienced it for 3 months.

University life requires you to step out. After having been in the same school for 6 years, making new friends is a skill that one will have to pick up again. Taking the initiative to start conversations and trying to keep conversations going is something that one will have to go through again. Yet, I realise that it is going to be a necessary skill to have in the future when we go to the workplace, where most of the time, you might be coming into contact with new people 70% of the time. 

Staying in hall is also kind of socially exhausting. Although you are simply staying in your hall room, you will always feel the pressure to be out there, somewhere, doing something, with someone. You will probably feel this social pressure for the first few months, but you will eventually get used to it (especially when the work starts coming in; all you want to do is to mug in your hall).

Also, it is actually kind of important to go for camps. They are a really good platform for you to just meet people. They are often going to be the first point of contact for most people. Cliques/ groups are often formed during these camps. Even if one gets adopted into an existing orientation group, it doesn't mean that one will instantly become close with the other members of the group.

Lastly, discipline is really important. The many breaks in between the lessons may seem useless in the beginning; yet, you will realise their usefulness later on, especially with things such as hall activities and ccas later on. Go for lectures, because you can never trust yourself to complete the recording later in less than 2 hours (but then again, if you can, then that can prove to be a time-saving option). 

It is always important to remember your purpose for being in university. Sure, it is important to play and make friends. However, always keep your studies in mind. Much more so for me - 3.5 is the magical number. 

Ultimately, university has proved to be a very eye-opening experience for me. I wouldn't say that it has been a super fun journey (people tend to over-glorify the image of freedom and university). I would think that university is a very important transition period in one's life. Not just in terms of studies and 'freedom', but really in terms of social life. I am interacting with a lot of older people (guys are usually 21 years old in university + ex-poly students). You expose yourself to the constant need to interact with strangers (there are no more 'classes' per say) and to adapt (especially when university is pretty confusing). 

I sure hope that I turn out better from this university experience.

My Latest Obsession: SHINee Taemin

Given that this blog has weathered the storms of my ever-changing obsessions, whether they be Katy Perry, Christian Bale, Hyun Bin, The Killers or 30 Seconds to Mars, it seems given that I should blog about my latest obsession: SHINee, or more specifically Taemin.

Now the question on everybody's mind (literally, everybody that I inform - my friends (who were VERY amused), cousins (who were genuinely shocked) and family (my mum was just happy that I am idolising a guy)) is how did this all start?

About 2 months ago, I was watching MCountdown because there was nothing else interesting on the television that day. It also happened to be the day of Shinee's comeback. Given that I knew the existence of the group (due to Lucifer and Ring Ding Dong), I was mildly interested in knowing what their comeback was going to be like.
They first performed Love Sick, which I wasn't very impressed with.
Next was their performance of View, which really impressed me. Okay, it wasn't so much the performance as it was the song itself. View is a song with a deep house genre, which happens to be a genre I really like to listen to for English songs. Furthermore, the song View sounded clean. It's very hard to explain this concept, but basically, I have never really been obsessed with Kpop because it has always sounded very 'noisy', for a lack of better description. There are a lot of messy EDM elements, along with the lack of a catchy enough chorus, that make every song sounds the same as the other.
I was truly, very surprised to hear a Kpop song sound like that. In my mind, I was thinking that "wow, kpop has finally got to this level". And that piqued my interest enough to go onto Youtube to find and listen to the song View (on loop).

Along the way, I spotted Taemin's danger at the suggested playlist on the side. I clicked it and viola! Was I surprised by the whole image change of Taemin! I remembered him most recently then on Henry's Trap. His new image was really sexy and all grown-up (which I really liked!!).
Furthermore, Taemin's Danger was actually pretty catchy for me to add it to my playlist. The dance choreography was really impressive as well.
Next, I listened to an OST song he sang called U. That was then I decided that I really liked this guy. I had actually listened to U before (while watching To the Beautiful You), but didn't know it was sung by Taemin. And his voice while singing U is really good/smoothing.

So there you have it.

After obsessing myself over Taemin's solo album (yeap, I was 1 year late and missed all that), I decided to listen to Shinee's albums. Since Taemin was a member of Shinee, in order to listen to more of Taemin, Shinee was the only way to go haha. Basically, my like for Taemin developed into a like for Shinee.

And... Shinee turned out to be a group that really suited my tastes. Now, note that at this time, the last Shinee song that I listened to properly was Lucifer / Sherlock (which I didn't really like at that time). That was really long ago. 2013-2014 was my A-level study period so... yeap, I was also more obsessed with English music at that point due to Katy Perry's Prism.

Turns out that 2013 was a massive year for Shinee, with Dream Girl, Why So Serious and Everybody. After listening to their most recent albums (I kind of went backwards in my timeline with Shinee), I was genuinely surprised at the various genres present in their albums. I also really like their songs, which are slightly influenced by American pop I think.

The Misconceptions of You (Dream Girl album) was probably the first Shinee album that I fell in love with because it had a lot of catchy songs like Punch Drunk Love, Girls Girls Girls, Aside and Beautiful. Overall, it was a very good album to listen to if you were, like me, transitioning from US pop to Kpop.

Afterwards, I became more and more impressed with Shinee's vocal and dance performance. Yeap, they sing and dance live.

It helped that I was right in the midst of Shinee's comeback (Odd album) so there was always some new material/ performance at those music countdowns.

And now....  there is going to be a repackaged album for Odd (Married to the Music)!! Will I buy it?? Hmmmm probably hahaha. I shall see.

Anyway, I just thought this was interesting to share. This is a 2014 interview between Jonghyun and Taemin (both are members of Shinee) at Jonghyun's radio show called Blue Night. I guess it is because it is a talk between members, that's why the interview turned out to be quite insightful and meaningful with regard to the Korean music scene and the idol life.
[ENG SUB] 140818 SHINee's Jonghyun & Taemin - MBC Blue Night - Video Dailymotion

And that's all from a new Shawol and Taemint (yeap, that's what the fans call themselves haha).

Book Review: Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino

Book summary:

Tokyo prostitutes Yuriko and Kazue have been brutally murdered, their deaths leaving a wake of unanswered questions about who they were, who their murderer is, and how their lives came to this end. As their stories unfurl in an ingeniously layered narrative, coolly mediated by Yuriko’s older sister, we are taken back to their time in a prestigious girls’ high school—where a strict social hierarchy decided their fates — and follow them through the years as they struggle against rigid societal conventions.

Shedding light on the most hidden precincts of Japanese society today,Grotesque is both a psychological investigation into the female psyche and a work of noir fiction that confirms Natsuo Kirino’s electrifying gifts.

It's been a really long time since I did a book review. It's because I have been falling into a bad habit of stopping a book halfway through and not continuing it.
As such, Grotesque is the first book that I have managed to finished reading in these past 6 months.
That calls for a celebration, and a review, I suppose.

Grotesque's premise is without a doubt, extremely interesting. In fact, I borrowed the book from the library precisely because of its interesting premise, seeing as how I have been so bored with recent books that I gave up on finishing them.

The book is told from various perspectives: Yuriko's older sister (whom I have only realised at the end of the book, is unnamed), Yuriko (whose beauty is so great she could be regarded as a monster - I know this sounds ridiculous, but let's just go with it), Kazuo (a naive hard worker who is unfortunately slowly embroiled in prostitution) and Zhang (the murderer of Yuriko, and possibly, Kazuo).

Having the book told from different perspectives was really refreshing for various reasons.

First off, Yuriko's older sister is really annoying after a while. I probably would not be able to stand an entire book written in her perspective only. Yuriko's older sister is self-obsessed, inconsiderate and hypocritical. But then again, I guess this is all on purpose, as the book is essentially a study of characters and what drives them.

Having the book told from different perspectives also really put me into the minds of the characters. It allowed me to understand how they felt and why they did the things they do. The only 'diary' that I was truly skeptical about was probably Zhang's because it was written as a form of confession to be read out to court (where he was trialed). His accounts were also mis-matched with Kazuo's, though, that could also be explained by how things are interpreted and appear differently for different people.

Although I did not really understand some of the foolish actions some of the characters made, I did understand how it was possible for some of them to be so driven to do such extreme things. Some of them, like Kazuo, are very easily affected by things, such that they tend to magnify a single event and interpret it in exaggerated and warped ways. Though this may sound silly, I know that it is possible because I (and possibly most people) have experienced this before.

The characters take unreal actions that are guided by realistic emotions.

That is possibly the most interesting aspect of this book. Is it bravery/courage/stupidity/recklessness that drives them to express their emotions and vent frustrations in this way? Why won't normal people (like you or me) ever do something as extreme as the characters in the book? Is it because of the social norms? The difference in the circumstances surrounding us? The difference in the desperateness and despair of the situation?

The book offers an interesting look at how each character struggles to find some form of control and power over their own lives. Particularly, the book focuses on characters who are inevitably stuck in their fate and unable to crawl out.
For Yuriko, the fact that she is only pretty, with no other redeeming features such as brains.
For Yuriko's sister, the fact that she is always compared to Yuriko.
For Kazuo, the fact that no one acknowledges her hard work. Her hard work can never compensate for the world of power and connections.
For Zhang, the fact that he is a poor powerless immigrant, always scrimping and saving.
Some of them choose to embrace their innate fate (Yuriko), while others resist it in small ways (Kazuo and Zhang).

The book also has a few other notable characters with interesting developments: Kajima, Kajima sensei, Mizuki (not sure if this is her name.. haha)

All in all, the book was really interesting and mind-blowing (because of the way characters react).

The only disappointment was perhaps the ending of the book. It felt too rushed for me. There was also a lack of meaning behind the ending. Well, I guess it could have been reflective of how all the characters were all simply looking for a way to 'feel alive', whether in legal or illegal ways. However, the ending for Yuriko's sister did feel slightly awkward compared to the much more well-developed backgrounds of the other characters.

Rating: 6.5/10
Anyway, I recommend this book for bored readers (like me haha).
The plot is really interesting and the characters are intriguing enough. I could not help but sympathise with some of them. Read it for the characters rather than the plot, I guess.
However, it is only for mature readers (i.e. ages 16 and up) because of the material involved.