Drama = Addictive

Oh, dramas, how I love thou.  I try to stay away, but somehow, you keep pulling me back.  You teach me lessons about life, love, relationships, joy, sadness, longing, hope...and I don't even understand your language.  How hopeless.

Inspired by my post about Secret Garden, I've decided to write about the countless hours of Asian dramas I've watched throughout the past five years.  I just started watching dramas when I was a freshman in college, so my list is not extensive...yet.  Below are my favorite dramas of all time, somewhat in order from my favorite to least favorite:

1. Devil Beside You - This is probably my favorite drama of all time.  It's a Taiwanese drama that a family friend, T, recommended to me.  I may have gotten swept away with the cast because I watched this drama right after I watched Why Why Love.  It's very much a sweet love story about a girl and boy in high school who's parents begin dating.  I know, the plot might not sound too appealing, but the characters' love and actions for one another were very touching.  My only complaint in this drama is Mike He's hair...why did you have to use bobby pins?!?!
2. Secret Garden - This had me laughing from the very beginning.  See my post from March 16th for a more detailed review.
3. Boys Over Flowers - In addition to Secret Garden and Devil Beside You, Boys Over Flowers has made my top 3 drama list.  The common theme between them is that there is a great balance of comedy and romance in them, and the storyline didn't drag very much.  More specifically to Boys Over Flowers, it is the Korean version of Meteor Garden and Hana Yori Dango.  What I liked more about Hana Yori Dango was that it had more intense/emotional scenes in the beginning.  In Boys Over Flowers, I enjoyed the more modern fashion of the cast and set, and the plot moved along quicker.  I would recommend watching both if you have time, though.
4. Why Why Love - This has the same cast as Devil Beside You.  I watched this drama before I watched Devil Beside You, and I fell in love with the cast.  It's a cute drama about a poor girl who is working to help support her family, and she and her friend sell coupons with random tasks they will perform when people draw them.  The main guy, Huo Da, ends up getting a master/servant coupon, and the rest of the drama is about Jia Di, the main girl, fulfilling the task.  You can probably guess what happens...but that's what makes dramas so addicting, no?
5. Hana Yori Dango (Seasons 1 & 2 and The Final Movie) - This was the first drama I ever watched, thanks to the recommendation of my friend, L.  [He also recommended that I watch the Korean movie 200 Pound Beauty, which I really enjoyed as well.] Hana Yori Dango is the Japanese version of Boys Over Flowers and Meteor Garden.  I remember crying and laughing a lot through this drama.  Even though I wished some of the actors would cut their hair and stop wearing lip gloss, this show was worth watching.  I liked the storyline and the final movie was a nice surprise, which I watched a few years after finishing the actual drama.  This one will always have a special place in my heart.
   
6. Coffee Prince - I didn't think I would enjoy this drama as much as I did.  It's about a girl who pretends to be a guy to work as a fast food delivery boy.  She ends up getting a job at a coffee shop that only hires males.  It's very comedic and also sometimes uncomfortable/embarrassing to watch as the girl and her boss grow to like each other but deny their attraction as two males.  It's definitely a different approach to the traditional storyline. While it ended up being a love story, what sets this drama apart is that the audience can see the relationships develop between the characters at the friendship level.  There is a loyalty, concern, and caring nature they have towards one another that you know will continue long after the honeymoon and drama is over.
7. Stairway to Heaven - This was the second drama I ever watched.  It's more serious than the shows I usually watch and very cliche, but it is one of the classics that is worth watching.  Kwon Sang Woo is also a good reason to watch it, too.
8. Other Dramas - I've also watched the following dramas as well:  My Girl, Full House, It Started With a Kiss (Seasons 1 & 2), Fated to Love You, Pasta (didn't finish)... and probably a few others I can't remember.  They all had their good moments and many of them are very popular.

Good sites to watch these at were Hulu and Mysoju.  My friend, C, recommended I watch Ups and Downs in the Sea of Love, and I am currently in the middle of My Lovely Sam Soon.  Even as I finish one, I'm always looking for another good one to watch.  I don't know if I can handle the very sad ones, but I may have to start moving on to those once I run out of comedies to watch.  Oh, dramas, you complete me.

Resilience

Almost two weeks ago, Japan experienced a devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami.  Watching the videos of the black water sweeping away the buildings seem unreal, all in a matter of seconds.

I read an article in which a girl, who lived in one of the coastal towns, went into the city to buy something and then the earthquake hit.  Her mom called her and told her to run outside.  After the ground stopped shaking the girl called her mom back, but there was no answer.  And there hasn't been one since then.  I pray for this girl to have the strength to continue through this.  I pray for her mom that if she was swept away with the waters, that she is in Heaven now, watching over on her family.  I pray for all of the people affected by this, that they may persevere and have hope for the future.  A simple story has never touched my heart so deeply.

Aside from the miraculous stories of survival, the other stories about the nuclear crisis with the Japanese plants in Fukushima have made me admire the Japanese people even more.  When fears for a nuclear meltdown started escalating, most of the employees were evacuated, but a handful nuclear workers stayed behind, working in shifts of 50, to try to cool down the reactors (PBS article).  These people, who are everyday workers, are very heroic.  Even if there is no explosion, there will probably be life-long side effects from the radiation.  I am thankful for these people.  There are probably millions of other people who are thankful for them, too.

My generation has not had to experience many hardships throughout our lifetime.  My parents lived through the Vietnam War.  My neighbor, who passed away a few years ago, fought in the Korean War.  I don't ever wish for anyone to have to experience war, hunger, etc., even though I know it exists today all around the world.  When I think about what I would do in situations such as these, I feel a bit scared and uncertain.  It's amazing how instinctively brave and strong people can be.  My heart and prayers go out to the resilient people of Japan.

Heart Treatment

A funny chat I had with my friend, who's currently in pharm school:

• Me:  How are rotations going? Busy week this week?
• T:  Hahah! Struggling to finish my SOAP note right now. I have no motivation and I've hit a wall. Trying to type out treatment for heart failure and COPD...not getting anywhere! :(
• Me:  Alternative treatments for heart failure:
  1.  Get a new heart
  2.  Get revenge on the guy/girl who broke it, because revenge often makes you feel better
  3.  Give yourself a light shock by rubbing your feet against the floor as you walk to try to jumpstart it again
• T:  HAHA M! Love it!!! That was a good laugh! Thanks :)  Well that's a needed boost. Going to analyze this guideline to treat heart failure.

Maybe I should have been a doctor...

Secret Garden

Following the recommendation of friends, I watched a Korean Drama that recently finished airing called Secret Garden.  It was good.  Really good.  Not only did I like the actors/actresses (Hyun Bin is so dreamy and Ha Ji Won has an edgy yet soft side), the storyline drew me in from the first episode.  Here's a synopsis if you haven't heard of it before:  http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Secret_Garden.

The drama did have its moments where it was cliché and predictable, but what drama doesn't?  And even though some of the events in the drama were so out there that they could never happen in real life, there was still a core that I could relate to that made me believe that I had just witnessed a great love that was real and that love can conquer all.

That leads me to the question, can love really conquer all?  I remember asking my ex this once.  He didn't believe that love was enough to get through all of the hardships of life.  It's hard to argue against this when the facts show that the divorce rate in America is almost 50%.  [As an aside, I've always heard that money is the number one reason for divorce.  Interestingly, this article states that money is just a surface issue, and more serious problems lie underneath:  http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/SuddenlySingle/MoneyIsntTheCulpritInMostDivorces.aspx]

I, on the other hand, still believe that love can be one of the strongest forces in this world.  It acts like a magnet.  If the feelings are mutual for both people, then nothing can keep them apart.  If it is only one-sided, though, then it doesn't matter how deep or intense one person's love is; the relationship won't last.  Granted, I don't see love beating down every door or stop sign in its way very often, but I have seen it triumph at least once in this lifetime.

During my last Christmas break two months ago, I went along with L & L to pick up my cousin from his friend's, N, house.  We went inside the house to say hi to N's parents and his other friends and found out that N had just proposed to his girlfriend, S, of about 5 years in front of the Waterwall.  It sounded very romantic.  He had told her to dress up because he was going to take her to the museum and dinner afterward.  When they finished at the museum, it was still early, so he suggested that they go to the Galleria area to pass the time before they went to the restaurant.  When they walked up to the Waterwall, a group of maybe 10 friends were there waiting for them, and N proposed to S.  She said, "Yes!" :)

Before we left, we asked S if she had told her parents yet.  She said she hadn't and that she was going to wait a little while.  She was planning on spending a few days at N's house until then.  A little background on N&S:  N&S started dating during their freshman year of college, and after they graduated, they both moved to California to go to grad school.  Extremely smart people with great hearts and personalities.  They were from different religions, though.  N's family was ok with this, but S's parents were strongly against the relationship from the beginning.  Although our parents are not the same people as we are, it's inspiring to see the two of them be together without any hesitation or resentment for their situation.

Love is not always easy, but the best things in life are worth fighting for.

And what about 10 or 20 years down the road?  After all the passion of our younger years has died down, and we're left with the ordinary routines of everyday life.  Would we still believe that it was worth it to compromise on having kids, on moving to another city, on being less religious, on spending money, etc, etc, etc?  Who knows.  This is a whole other topic in itself.  But for now, I still hope for some of that crazy kind of love so I can have memories to look back on when I'm older.

Code Blue

On Friday, I took my second CPA exam, BEC.  I studied for about three weeks for this exam, but I felt better about it than FAR.  There's always more test anxiety when taking a first test, so that was probably part of the reason I felt more confident.  There was also less material to cover, and I felt more comfortable guessing.  My next exam, REG, is scheduled for April 15th.  Remember to file your taxes!

Thanks to my roommate (<3 you L), I went to see Blue Man Group perform at the Long Center.  It was a good way to enjoy a few laughs and relax.  Pictures of the performance are included below.  My favorite part was the finale when they had all of the streamers and balls floating around the audience.  It was like one big dance party.

After the performance, we went to the car and sat there for at least half an hour without any cars moving on our floor.  Although the Long Center is pretty, the functional set up of the place is not good.  The parking garage is very long and narrow, which takes forever to exit.  In addition, the garage exit is very close to a stoplight, so probably only 20 or 30 cars can exit every few minutes when the light turns green.  Because it seemed like we weren't going to go anywhere anytime soon, we decided to walk across the Congress bridge and catch the bus home.  S decided to go pick up her car later.  I took a few snapshots of our walk home.  This is such a scenic city, that even walking back was enjoyable.




    

Aside from the adventures of these past two days, my life has been pretty quiet.  I did make a new dish: Tortilla Soup.  I found the recipe on Allrecipes (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Catherines-Spicy-Chicken-Soup/Detail.aspx), and it is a keeper.  After reading through the suggestions by some of the reviewers, I decided to tweak the recipe by only using diced tomatoes with green chiles instead of the canned whole tomatoes and tomato soup.  I also substituted black beans for chili beans, left out the salt and sour cream, added chili powder at the end according to my preference, and topped the soup off with baked tortilla chips.  Usually, I don't cook soup because it takes a long time for it to cook, but this is definitely a soup worth waiting for.  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.  Definitely give this soup a chance, and it will win your heart over.

Last but not least, here's a brief update on my crush life.  Sadly, the crush I mentioned in the last post has already faded.  Every time I saw the guy, he acted like he normally does but made no signs of being interested in me as anything more than just a friend.  After a few days, I felt that giggly feeling slip away when I was around him, and all was back to normal again.  Do crushes usually work this way?  I always thought that if you liked someone, that feeling would stay around for longer than two weeks.  Maybe there are levels of "like," and this one just happened to be mild.  I'm still happy that I felt it, though.  It was like a breath of fresh air, and it helped me hope for something more.  It helped me believe that the next best thing in my life could just be right around the corner.

Happy Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

My parents are so cute.  They surprised me by sending this card in the mail.  I love that it's handmade!

Over these past few weeks a lot has happened.  I took my first CPA exam, FAR, a week ago.  I drove back home for the new year and had planned to take my exam on the 4th.  The roads were icing over, though, so the testing center closed that day.  Luckily, I was able to reschedule my exam two days later on a Sunday morning.  It was tough!  I kept reading blogs and hearing people say that the Becker practice exams were easier, but I definitely didn't feel as confident leaving that testing center as I would have liked.  My next exam, BEC, is in 11 days.  Time to get crackin' again!  Exam scores come out in March...There will be updates to follow.

In terms of new places I've been to, I went with some friends to Not Your Mama's Food Truck.  It was DELICIOUS!  We tried the fried chicken and beef tongue (see pictures below).  The portions were a good size.  Although one order won't make you unbutton your pants, you will feel satisfied.  To fill a guy's appetite, though, you may need to order a side along with the main dish.  So far, this has been my favorite food truck.  The fried chicken was cooked perfectly.  It had a crispy skin that wasn't overdone, and the sauce was finger lickin' good.  The beef tongue melted in my mouth, and it was so flavorful without being fatty.  It was nice to sit outside and enjoy the food, and Chef Ron can be a hoot, interjecting here and there.  I would highly recommend Not Your Mama's Food Truck to everyone!

For entertainment, I watched Black Swan starring Natalie Portman and The King's Speech starring Colin Firth during these last few weeks.  The Black Swan was a dark movie and the point of view of the movie was more psychologically deranged than I thought it would be.  I never knew the story of Swan Lake.  Here is a brief synopsis:

There was a princess who was turned into a white swan, and she could only be turned back if she found a man who truly loved her.  One day she meets a prince, and starts to fall in love with her.  However, the black swan, the white swan's evil look-a-like, seduces the prince, and the white swan loses the prince's love.  As a result, the white swan commits suicide because only through death can she be free.

I thought the story was very beautiful and tragic when I heard it.  Throughout the movie, I could see the transformation of the white swan into the black swan, and I kept thinking about the loss of innocence.  Once the curiosity of seduction and vengeance showed up as the black swan, the innocence of the white swan had no chance of surviving.

As for The King's Speech, I thought it was one of the best movies I had seen in a long time.  It's about Prince Albert's journey of overcoming his speech impediment.  I will give it to Colin Firth, his acting was great.  He won a Golden Globe for best actor, and I hope he wins an Oscar as well for his role in this movie.  I haven't watched anything else lately, but I do want to go see Just Go With It and No Strings Attached when I have time.

To wrap up my update, it is Valentine's Day!  As Spring rolls around, I can feel the love in the air, and it makes me smile.  Recently, I've started liking this guy.  I've known him for a while, and recently we've had more time to just talk about everyday things because our schedules overlap.  I admit, I feel giggly and smile a lot when I see him.  It's very cute.  I don't know if anything will come from this, but it is so nice to have a crush on someone again.  It gives me hope that there is a guy out there who can make me laugh more than I've ever laughed before and make me feel more alive than I've felt in a long time.  Well, he may not be doing it actively, but at least I know I can allow myself to think of a brighter future and enjoy it as it comes.  So, this Valentine's Day, I did not have any guy to call "Mine," but it was a happy one, nonetheless.  <3

Finale Begin

This was the first day of my last semester in college.  Deep breath.  It's difficult to believe that four-and-a-half years have passed by.  This semester will be amazing.  Here are some of the things my roommate and I planned  at the end of last semester to experience before graduating:

1. Madrigal Dinner
2. Texercise - I'm going to say exercising counts
3. UT Tower Tour
4. Butterbeer
5. Austin Kite Festival - My roommie fulfilled this one
6. High Ball
7. Ballroom Dancing
8. Eeyore's Birthday
9. Live Music
10. Capital Tour
11. Holi

Although not on our list, we went rock-climbing yesterday at the gym.  From Tuesday until Thursday this week, there were a lot of free previews for activities offered around campus.  We stayed for about an hour climbing the wall, which is probably 20 feet high, but we barely reached halfway up.  I am definitely feeling it in my arms today.  I love that sore feeling, though, because it makes me feel like I accomplished a good workout.

The first class day was alright.  I think I'll really enjoy the oil and gas class I'm auditing.  Other than that, I've been studying for the CPA exam.  My first test is FAR, and I'm aiming to take that on February 4th.  Time to kick it into gear!  15 days left!

On Different Pages

A friend asked to go on a date.  I declined.  Surprisingly, I felt a little saddened because I felt like I had hurt a friend.  I've never dumped anyone, but I'm guessing this is a tiny semblance of how that feels.  Is it wrong that I didn't give him a chance?  If I were in his shoes, of course I would say it wasn't fair.  However, my heart doesn't beat faster when I see him.  I don't wait in anticipation until the next time we meet.

It took a lot for my heart to heal, and I feel like I wouldn't be doing it justice by settling for someone I didn't feel passionately for.

Resolutions

Less than 70 hours away from a new year...and I have a feeling it will be a great one.  As I look back on how things turned out over the past few years, I classify those periods as the following:  2009 was a year of hurt, 2010 was a year of healing, and 2011 will be a year of living...living, loving, and appreciating life more than ever before.

For 2011, I've started thinking of some resolutions.  I may keep all of them, or none of them, or I may just pretend to keep a few of them.  Whatever happens, here they are:

1. Exercise more:  Youth is amazing.  Your metabolism works like a little hamster running in its wheel.  We all know it will catch up to us one day, though, and I want to be prepared for that day.  My goal is to run 3 miles with out stopping.  I would also like to tone up my arms, abs, and glutes.  Better health in general is a good selling point, too.
2. Pass the CPA exam:  It's a beast.  You can do it.  First time around!
3. Capture the memories:  I can spend hours looking at old photographs.  They are priceless, and I want to take more pictures to remember these days.  Maybe I will try to also write more entries here and fill them with photos.  It would probably make this blog more interesting...
4. Cook more:  Learn new dishes, and make them with style.  Taste remains the most important factor, but serving beautiful dishes is an art.
5. Get a boyfriend:  I know, I know.  This sounds terrible, like a I'm a desperate, naive, hopeless, pitiful, little girl.  Whether this is true or not, I wrote this down because I want to be more open to dating.  I've guarded myself for a long time.  Granted, I know it was the right thing to do because I wasn't ready to date again.  I'm ready now, though.  I am a bit picky when it comes to guys, but I believe I will find someone who is worth waiting for.

The resolutions listed above aren't very detailed.  Although I have less tangible short-term goals to grasp onto, I think these will keep me more motivated because I can see the bigger picture.  I may refine them later and/or add to this list.  This is a start, though, and I can't wait for the new year!

"What If" - Kate Winslet

Here I stand alone
With this weight upon my heart
And it will not go away
In my head I keep on looking back
Right back to the start
Wondering what it was that made you change

Well I tried
But I had to draw the line
And still this question keeps on spinning in my mind

What if I had never let you go
Would you be the man I used to know
If I'd stayed
If you'd tried
If we could only turn back time
But I guess we'll never know

Many roads to take
Some to joy
Some to heart-ache
Anyone can lose their way
And if I said that we could turn it back
Right back to the start
Would you take the chance and make the change

Do you think how it would have been sometimes
Do you pray that I'd never left your side

What if I had never let you go
Would you be the man I used to know
If I'd stayed
If you'd tried
If we could only turn back time
But I guess we'll never know

If only we could turn the hands of time
If I could take you back would you still be mine

'Cos I tried
But I had to draw the line
And still this question keep on spinning in my mind

What if I had never let you go
Would you be the man I used to know
What if I had never walked away
'Cos I still love you more than I can say
If I'd stayed
If you'd tried
If we could only turn back time
But I guess we'll never know
We'll never know