Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment
by Yein Jee
Korean music video for Grown Ups by Sondia, it’s an OST for drama series My Mister. The show is my favourite Korean drama in recent years. The song goes well with the plot.
There’s very little information on the singer, Sondia. She works in a few OST but I don’t think she has released any album nor shown her face in public before. At first I thought it was IU, the lead actress, who sings the song as it actually sounds like her voice in many parts; apparently not.
by Yein Jee
Video of Chinese actress Fala Chen who shares some views about her hometown, Chengdu. Decent film but a bit long-winded, could have cramped more information in a three minutes video.
I always thought that she was born in America. Apparently she was born and raised in China instead, until she was 14 years old when she emigrated to the United States with her family.
Chen entered the show business after earning a place as 1st runner-up in the 2005 Miss Chinese International Pageant. She worked primarily with TVB in Hong Kong and starred in numerous TV drama series until her contract ended in 2013. She did quite well during that period.
The actress settled some personal matters and went back to school after that. She’s currently studying in Juilliard in New York; it’s one of the world’s leading drama, music, and dance school. She’s expected to graduate next year (with a postgraduate or master degree.)
Not sure when the video was made but it looks recent. I visited the city over two decades ago when China was still at early stage of its economic boom. A lot of things have changed, obviously. I’m thinking of revisiting the place for comparison sake, but there are other priorities at the moment.
by Yein Jee
Music video for It’s Our Time by Japanese pop duo Moumoon, released in June 2015. Found this song after blogging about them a couple of months ago.
They shot the MV in Paris when the band held their first solo concert (sold out) in the French capital in May 2015. The song is OK, love the video though… it looks like a beautiful travelogue.
Feels like visiting Europe again after watching this. It has been over a decade since my last trip to the continent. Always thought I would be there again much sooner.
By the way, half of the group name moumoon comes from a French word. “Mou” means soft in French, hence their name can be interpreted as soft moon in English =)
by Yein Jee
Short English documentary about Haruo Nakajima, the man who portrayed Godzilla in the first 12 movies of the popular Japanese media franchise.
The costume was made of concrete in the first Godzilla film in 1954, that alone deserves respect LoL. Check the rest about his early career from the video.
Nakajima also played other giant creatures in various movies and in the Ultraman TV series. Hence, in some ways he’s the real king of monsters in Japan.
He retired from his suit acting roles in 1972. Fans still remember him fondly, and many people credited him as the greatest suit actor of all time.
[Update] The legend passed away in August 2017, aged 88.
“In the end, the Godzilla I played remains on the film forever. It remains in people’s memory, and for that I feel really grateful.” ~ Haruo Nakajima
by Yein Jee
Video by travel blogger Jacob Laukaitis who visited North Korea with a tour group earlier this year. He revealed the basic do’s and don’ts at the beginning of the film, and he didn’t hide the fact that most of the things he seen were staged.
Set politics (and atom bombs) aside, an interesting tourism video for the “mysterious” country. It reminds me of my trip to China in late 90’s, in other words North Korea seems to be 15-20 years behind some parts of the world.
by Yein Jee
Trailer video for the 2016 World Cosplay Summit which will be held on July 30 to August 7 in Japan. The video shows some history of the convention, plus clips from the cosplay competition (presumably from 2015), parade and side events.
The WCS is held over a one week period where representatives from different countries visit various parts of Japan, including Akihabara, Kyoto and Sendai, to promote the Japanese youth culture and its ability to connect internationally. The finale is usually held in Nagoya on the first weekend of August.