Let's talk about K Pop lah

In my previous 2 entries about K-Pop, FM96.3 한국어 Radio & Not bad, FM96.3, I gave some reviews on the K-Pop dedicated and played on the new Korean radio station FM96.3

And ok, I've decided. Let's talk about K-Pop in more details. K-Pop is more than DBSK and Super Juniors. Yes, rather than just sit around and whine, I've decided to introduce you to a bit more about K-Pop. It's time for some serious K-Pop education!!

I'll tell you where to listen and watch MVs. Keep up to date on K-Pop news, music charts, etc. Of course, the list are limited to what I personally know. If you have more, please email me @ "emailshaoqin@gmail.com". No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. My email is emailshaoqin@ gmail.com. People scold me stupid, why put the word "email" in my email address to confuse people? Well, that's the whole point.

Imagine A asking B,

"Hey, how can I send these Edison Chen pictures to Shao Qin?".

"Um.. email him lah.. emailshaoqin@gmail.com."

"Ok, what's his email?"

"emailshaoqin@gmail.com"

"ok ok...I know lah.. email him at gmail.. but what's his full gmail address?!"

"emailshaoqin@gmail.com"

"I KNOW!!!!!!!.... what.............."

Haha~ Get the joke?! It's stupid, but I like it.. haha.. Btw, don't bother sending me Edison's pictures anymore.. he's a loser who "quit" HK entertainment scene and is ready for his new life in Hollywood... I think he'll enjoy it there.. Britney, Lindsay, Olsen twins.. kekeke.

Ok, back to K-Pop.

K-Pop news
http://popseoul.com/ - If you are bored, and need hilarious K-Pop news.. this is it.. whatcha waiting for?! ㅋㅋㅋ

http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/entertainment/enter_chart_list.htm

http://www.arirang.co.kr/Tv/Pops_News.asp?PROG_CODE=TVCR0102&code=Po4&m_view_t=Po&ptitle=

Charts - Best place to keep yourself updated.
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/entertainment/enter_top10_detail.htm - Chart lah, what else?

http://www.arirang.co.kr/Tv/Pops_Weekly10.asp?PROG_CODE=TVCR0102&code=Po3&m_view_t=Po&ptitle= - Ehh.. this is a bit special... user-determined chart

Music Videos
http://kpopvideo.com/kpop/ - Tonnes of MVs here... but unorganized... it's free lah. no complaints.. heheh...

Music video countdown shows
http://www.arirang.co.kr/Tv2/Pops_WhatsOn.asp?PROG_CODE=TVCR0102&sys_lang=Eng - This is a weekly half-hour video show. My favourite. It has a countdown chart, and short introduction in the form of english subtitles to tell us more about the songs and artistes...

http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/entertainment/enter_chart_list.htm - Audio show. Click on the picture that says "KPOP Chat".. Yes.. CHAT! Actually it's "Chart", but there's a typo that they didn't correct.... bleh..

Lyrics/Translations
http://aheeyah.com/lyrics/index.htm - Best source for lyrics in Hanguel, Romanization and English translation... what else you want?! Hah?!

http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/entertainment/enter_words_list.htm - English translations of selected K-pop songs.

한국말 할수있으면.. http://mstar.o2sky.com/main/music.php?murl=main... choose from menu on the left.. beside K-Pop, there're J, Mandarin, etc.. this is the imitation of http://www.bugs.co.kr.. but hey.. it's free.. for Bugs, you need to pay about 3000won/month.. but it's worth it... get a Korean friend to help you out.. I still owe 본홍 lotsa money for this..ㅋㅋㅋ.. return u next time ok? Or, just listen to o2sky.com...although it's not really high quality audio or very very very updated.. still acceptable..

Ok, here're some singers I randomly thought of...

이승철 - Lee Seung Cheol
(He's been around for 10 years in the music scene.. how bad can he be? He's good.. no doubt about it.)

씨야 - See Ya
(Oh!! My favorite girl group.. the sight of 규리 Gyu-ri makes me go weak.. 보람 Bo-ram... a bit weak... 연지 Yeon-ji.. sorry, no weak.. ㅋㅋㅋ They sing really nice and sad love ballads.. ^^)

SG 워너비 - SG Wannabe
(actually stands for Simon & Garfunkel Wannabe. They are 3 talented men who sang a duet with See Ya which I really love! )

양파 - Yangpa
(Haven't listened to her previous album, but her 5th album, The Windows of My Soul, won me over!)

KCM
(His piercing vocal is so mesmorizing..)

거북이 - Turtles
(Cute dance music to brighten up your day)

Monday Kiz
(Feels like SG Wannabe to me.. heheh)Brown-eyed Girls
(Be it alone or with other bands, singers.. they are just as good..)

DJ DOC
(Who can forget them? The grandfather of hip-hop!)

When I was in Korea for 4 months, I attended 2 major musical/school cheering events and witnessed live K-Pop performances.. when we were lucky, we could even see them perform at public places like shopping centers, etc.. really miss those days.. but I think, the best performance I've seen was at Yonsei's Akaraka... the opera singer singing "yamo yamo yamo yamo yamo...!" ㅋㅋㅋ

Puppeteers and Puppets at Home

Who likes to play chess? Or Control puppets? No idea? Give you a clue... He can't sing.... hehehe... Wong Can't Sing lah~ A comment from a reader @ http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/03/20/if-one-were-dr-choong%e2%80%a6/#more-709

"DY, hell would sooner freeze over before we see a Singaporean civil servant go against a minister’s wishes. If Choong recused herself, imagine what that would mean. The minister would take that as a slap on his face and Choong can kiss her career goodbye.

Choong and the other two, in my opinion, are pawns in this spin game that the minister is engaging in. WKS is not a moron, you know. He knows exactly what he is doing.

Except of course, he doesn’t know how to lock up a limping terrorist."

Read more @ http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/03/20/if-one-were-dr-choong%e2%80%a6/#more-709

More than The Straits Times & MediaCorp

Okay, it's time again for our OPEN YOUR EYES BIG BIG AND SEE series again.... remember her.. nice eyes..

I have been reading The Straits Times since I don't know know when. Let me count. 10, 15 years? Somewhere there. I love the comprehensive news coverage, from world to home to entertainment to travel. And yeah, who can deny the popularity of the jobs section?? People who don't buy papers will buy it on Saturday, hoping to land a nice job, so that they can survive well in Singapore.

Yes! Singapore! Our Sing-land, land of life-gets-tougher-for-some-everyday. We hear complaints everyday. But think beyond what you read on The Straits Times or hear from the Mediacock, oops sorry, mediacorp news. Our dear paper ranks #154 on the 2007 Freedom of the Press World Ranking... 154 mind you!! That's categorized as "NOT FREE"..

I still love The Straits Times, but I'll gladly get other perspectives through The Online Citizen and for something funny but serious enough to take note of, TalkingCock.com... don't pray pray with talkingcock ah.. they came out with a great guide on spotting Mas selamat.. haha.. Ok, back to my main topic today. I may not be able to afford a roof in future! See Uniquely Singapore - Is the HDB fulfilling the needs of Singaporeans? and you'll understand why. Read all the news from papers, watch the news, put them together, analyze and get the other perspectives, and think about it, very seriously.....

Extracted from that article....

"HDB ignoring reality

The mission of the HDB is to provide affordable housing for Singaporeans. Instead of focusing too much on building premium HDB flats with record-high prices and having price increases of about 40 per cent over the last two years, it should divert more resources and effort to providing smaller, less frills affordable flats. Asking people, particularly newlyweds, to buy in the resale market ignores the reality that the prices of resale flats are much higher and require cash top-ups above valuation, which may be an affordability issue for younger or lower-income Singaporeans. Removing various restrictions for ECs, whilst maintaining the status quo for resale flats, may encourage younger Singaporeans to buy higher priced ECs, and thus take higher risks over the typical 30-year mortgage tenure. "

"So, how well has our Minister for National Development done in respect of providing affordable housing to meet the needs of Singaporeans? Are Singaporeans getting value for the high pay of ministers? In view of the problems being faced by thousands of would-be flat owners, did the National Development Minister deserve the up to 9 months performance bonus plus the up to 8 months of GDP bonus he received last year? What criteria were used and how were his bonuses derived? His performance thus far leaves much to be desired. "


For me, I'm still glad I have a roof over me.... future... fight hard lah.. for now, back to sleep and go to work... no money no lunch... So, for those who want to get a flat but can't... our mini-star marlboro Tan can only tell you to Tan gu gu.. ban ban Tan ah....

Zen Stone Plus with Built-In Speaker

I have never stepped into an IT show for years. The last time I was there, it was purely because of work. I was a promoter for the Sony Handycam, and up till now I'm still wondering why I didn't have commission for so many cameras sold that day? i could have earn a lot....

Anyway, I went to IT Show 2008, purely because I wanted to buy an MP3 player. Not MP4, MP5, Ipods, etc. Just a basic MP3 player. Saw the Creative ad on Digital Life on Tues, did some research, and decided I'll go there, take a look, and buy the 4GB Zen Stone Plus with Built-In speakers. $159, not sure if this is the standard price, but I bought it partly because it came with a USB Power Adapter, also known as a-charger-which-works-off-your-wall-power-socket. Why is this so special? Because the retail pack only comes with a short USB cable. Yes, when I say short, I meant it. Sorry, no photo of it, already kept it in the box. That means, you can only charge the Zen Stone with your notebook, PC or any power-emitting USB port. Quite dumb. Apparently that USB power adapter cost $49, so I reckon it's a good bargain, and so bought it.

The IT Show 2008 runs till 9th March (Sunday). If you need a basic MP3 player, but don't want to let Apple earn your money, not even an Ipod Shuffle, get this. And yeah, Creative is Singapore brand. Support Mr Sim ok? $159, only black left, software stored in player (also acts as external storage), short USB cable, rubble sleeve (also known as the MP3 player's condom, like those for mobile phone), a clip, earphone (not the ear-plug type) and most importantly, free USB Power Adapter!


Look below! It's small enough to bring it to go jogging, or as a voice recorder, to record those anyhow-say-say salesmen at the IT Show. Has build-in Mic, speaker (very clear, surprisingly!) and FM lay-lio (radio)... what u waiting for?

Joanna Wang 王若琳 ~ Start From Here

Better Late than never.. I just bought Joanna Wang's "Start From here" today. Been listening to it non-stop. It's addictive. Her voice, the songs, the melody, the lyrics.... fantastic.... no... should be fantabulous! She has received praises from other singers like David 陶喆. In the album, she sang the re-written "愛很簡單” by David， in English.. yes.. English.. it's called "I Love You". Absolutely fantastic. The best has to be "Let's Start From Here". There are English and Mandarin versions of it. There are 2 CDs, CD1 in English, and CD2 in Mandarin. CD2 has 5 tracks that can be found in CD 1, but of course, in Mandarin! It's so wonderful to be able to hear her singing in such articulated English, and yet enjoy it in Mandarin too. One more thing you should know. She's only 19, but has been hailed as "Lisa Ono". That's a big title to carry, but I'm sure she has no problem with it. Keep it up Joanna..

Hear it @ http://www.sonybmg.com.tw/pop/joanna/musicplayer.html

http://www.sonybmg.com.tw/pop/joanna/web/p1.php