KPop Invasion By: itserinne 1 comment

K-Pop is a mixture of trendy Western music and high-energy Japanese pop (J-Pop), which preys on listeners' heads with repeated hooks, sometimes in English. It embraces genre fusion with both singing and rap, and emphasizes performance and strong visuals. (source: KPop Definition)

Photo courtesy of Ms. A

    
   For some unknown reason (maybe known to a few, unknown to us), our office decided to hold a KPop Dance Contest. Being a KPop fan for almost 10 years already, I wasn't really keen about it as the other expected me to be. Yes, I listen to KPop, I've memorized more than a couple of songs and maybe tried to dance to those songs as well. Key word here is TRIED. I'm not a dancer. So when they announced that it was going to be a dance contest I was really trying my best to get a way out. I did get a way out when they said that it was going to be on the 2nd Friday of June (I was on VL at the time), but then they moved it to the 3rd Friday of the same month and since my VL was not approved during that time, I have no choice but to join our team's production number. Yes, I WAS FORCED TO DANCE. ^.^ 


   There are four teams in our Department. Each team has their own concept (when I say concept I mean their own KPop groups to cosplay). Every team practiced hard to follow the choreography, downloading practice videos on YouTube to be able to bag the most coveted price.


  Here are the teams and their concepts:


First up is : MACRO with an M! Countdown style of presentation. They did Taeyang's I Need A Girl. A bit of background about Taeyang:

Solar - Tae Yang's first solo album

Dong Youngbae (born May 18, 1988), better known by his stage name Taeyang (meaning Solar) or Sol, and is a South Korean recording artist and model. After appearing in Jinusean's music video "A-yo", Taeyang began training underYG Entertainment at the age of 12 alongside fellow member and leader G-Dragon. After six years of vocal and dance training, he made his debut in 2006 as a member of popular Korean boy band,Big Bang.

And KARA's Step

Step, KARA's 4th Studio Album

Kara is a popular South Korean girl group signed with DSP Media (DSP). The band name Kara comes from the Greek word "chara" (χαρά, lit. "joy"), which the group interpreted to mean "sweet melody".

This is MACRO's Tae Yang... I wasn't able to get pictures of the MACRO-KARA members so... This is Tey-Yang in action...

Photo courtesy of Tey-Yang's Facebook Fan Page ^.^

   Next we have MINA' STOP. They did 4Minute's Hot Issue. As per Wiki:

4Minute's First Digital Single

4Minute  is a five-member South Korean girl group formed in 2009 by Cube Entertainment. The members of the group are Nam Ji-hyun, Heo Ga-yoon , Jeon Ji-yoon , Kim Hyun-a and Kwon So-hyun. The girls released their first single on June 15, 2009 and made their first debut stage on June 18, 2009 on M.net M! Countdown.

This is a shot of MINA' STOP's neon-inspred version of Hot Issue. 

Picture courtesy of Zayza's Facebook Page

Then there's Ana Rep's performance of Wonder Girl's Be My Baby. A little background of the the Wonder Girls, again as per Wiki:

Wonder World is Wonder Girls' 2nd Studio album

Wonder Girls is a South Korean girl group, which current line-up consists of five members Yubin, Yeeun, Sunye, Sohee, and Hyelim. They are managed by their producer and manager singer-songwriter Park Jin-Young under his talent agency, JYP Entertainment.

And this is Ana Republic's rendition of Be My Baby

Photo courtesy of Zayza's Facebook Page

 Last but not the least is Aeriel Figther's KDrama/Dance Production/MV-inspired rendition of Miss A's Goodbye Baby. FYI, Miss A is:

Miss A's Goodbye Baby is taken from their first full album A Class

Miss A , commonly stylized as miss A, is a four member South Korean and Chinese girl group based in South Korea. They were formed by JYP Entertainment and are managed by AQ Entertainment. The group consists of Fei, Jia, Min and Suzy.

   Since I wasn't able to get a picture of the actual performance, the following photos are taken after the win. Yep, our group won first place. Maybe it's because of the almost-real (or was it an actual sampal?) slap on our Team Manager's face who plays the role of the cheating gay boyfriend.

All smiles after the unexpected win

Still all-smiles, always ready for a photo op

   Though it was a tiring 2-weeks going towards this specific event, with all the practice and the conceptualization and the trying to be just a bit more flexible (I didn't achieve being flexible, it was more of "may sapi si erin" day) paid off. It was fun while it lasted and I'm a true-blue KPop fan but you won't see me doing this again, EVER. Not unless I'd be dancing with these guys...

especially these cuties

Well, that's just wishful thinking for me.

The Foodie By: itserinne 2 comments

     I've always had an interest in cooking, but I'm not the type to try to learn the technicalities about it. I'm more the youtube tutorial type. I usually download the video, watch it and see if I'd be able to copy it. And since most of the food that I'm interested in cooking have ingredients not readily available in supermarkets here, I learned to substitute.


    My first attempt at following a youtube cooking tutorial vid. This is kimbap/gimbap:

Image not mine. Taken from Wiki

Gimbap or kimbap is a popular Korean dish made from steamed white rice (bap) and various other ingredients, rolled in gim (sheets of dried laver seaweed) and served in bite-size slices. Gimbap is often eaten during picnics or outdoor events, or as a light lunch, served with danmuji or kimchi.


  
  


    There are a few ingredients in kimbap that I wasn't able to find until later, so instead of the actual steamed ham they used on authentic kimbap, I used the regular cheese dog I was able to buy at the local supermarket and skipped the fermented radish. It turned out fine for the first time. So the next pictures are mine.

Before it gets sliced, it really looks ugly

Tada! Sliced and packed!

   If you're interested in making gimbap, here's a step by step guide for you. It has pretty pictures too! Kimbap 101

   Then I did rice cakes during New Year. I made Gyeongdan, this is a type of rice cake that has sweetened red bean paste inside. I decided to make it when I saw a packet of glutinous rice flour during one of my supermarket trips. The process was easy, but actually shaping the rice cakes was pretty difficult since you need to handle them while they're still malleable. They get hard if you left it too long. And the mixture sticks to your hand like glue, I decided to put olive oil on my hand at first so it won't stick, then I read that you're supposed to put flour on your hand instead.

    My rice cakes look more like mochis (a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape ) than those pretty korean rice cakes I see online. Here are some pictures:

Aren't they pretty?

    These type of rice cakes are usually served during weddings (traditional weddings, that is. They say if the married couple eats this, they would stick/stay together forever or something like that) and New Year celebrations (mostly during the Chinese New Year, not the Western one).

    The next picture is a Japanese mochi. This is how mine would look like but imagine it being more messy.

I just wanted to add this, kawaii ne?

    Having seen those pictures, you'd probably have an idea how badly I failed at doing this project. So the next photo would be my lame attempt at trying to copy the cute mochis you see on the photo above (minus the faces). Oh and before I forget,  a mochis (or maybe it's just mine) shelf life is really short. Mine laster for about 24 hours. After I removed it from the fridge it looks ugly as hell, I admit even I didn't want to eat it.

Lame, isn't it?

    My next projects are egg dishes. The first one was an egg roll. It looks easy when you see the tutorial video. But when I attempted to do it, it wouldn't, ummm roll. After a few tries I was able to make a decent looking one, when I say 'decent' I mean it looks like this

The picture's not mine, I wasn't able to take a photo of my dish,
but just so you'll have an idea

    But this is what it would actually look like if done perfectly:

I want to make something as yeopo as this! ;A;

    The egg roll ingredients are simple, it's just like making an omelette. You just need to roll it. Speaking of omelettes, my recent project is Omurice.

    Inspired by Park Ha from the Rooftop Prince. This is the first dish that Crown Prince Lee Kak and his entourage tasted after they got transported to modern Korea. It originated from Japan, as per Wikipedia: Omurice is an example of contemporary Japanese fusion cuisine consisting of an omelette made with fried rice and usually topped with ketchup.

Courtesy of KBS' Rooftop Prince

    This is one of the simplest dishes to prepare, you just need to cook fried rice, that's going to be your stuffing and then you fry two beaten eggs in a large pan. the instructions says to fold the egg... How would you fold the  fried egg into a sqaure if it's not big enough to cover the rice? That was my main problem. the first attempt was a failure, then my Mom decided to intervene and told me that I was putting too much rice. When I have about three or four tablespoon of rice in the middle of the fried egg, I tried folding it again and TADA! I was bale to make this.

Thanks Orange for the picture! ^^

    I still have soooo many other dishes I want to work on but I don't have time (and the budget) to do all of them. And I wish I'd be able to taste the real ones, you know what I mean, go to Korea and eat everything my stomach allows me to eat, then maybe I'd be able to perfect those dishes and make a few more to add to my collection.

**if you're interested in other Korean dishes, you can visit these sites: Aeri's Kitchen, My Korean Kitchen or if you're not much of a cook, you can just drool over the pretty pictures. ^.^

An Ode To Ramyun By: itserinne 3 comments

Ramyun, Oh  Ramyun , I simply cherish you,
You make me happy everytime I see you on the menu.Ramyun , Oh  Ramyun, you make my stomach full
I can't get enough of you, I always need a potful!

    I'm obsessed with instant noodles... Okay, obsessed might actually be too strong a word to describe a likeness to food, but I'd settle with that. If I was told that I'd only be able to eat just one dish for the rest of my life, I'd probably choose noodles, the instant kind. That was my answer back then before I realized there wouldn't be an entire life to talk about since I'd probably have died of MSG poisoning, if there was such a thing.

So, I'm here to share my top 3 favourite Instant Noodles:

First on the list is SHIN RAMYUN.

    As per WIKIPEDIA's description -- Shin Ramyun is a spicy brand of Korean instant noodles produced by Nong Shim Ltd. since 1986. It is exported to over 80 different countries, and is the highest selling brand of noodles in Korea.

      It's basically Kimchi-flavoured noodles. Spicy is an understatement because a few of my friends would probably keel over just sipping the soup. I got addicted to this ever since our local grocery store decided it's high time they add Korean merchandises on their shelves (I blame the Hallyu wave for this). I can eat 2 packs of these a day, and it's not a joke finishing a bowl.

Second on the list is JAJANGMYEON

    According to WIKIPEDIA, Jajangmyeon is a popular Korean dish, derived from the Chinese dish zha jiang mian. It consists of wheat noodles topped with a thick sauce made of chunjang (a salty black soybean paste), diced meat and vegetables, and sometimes also seafood. Jajang (alternately spelled jjajang), the name of the sauce and Myeon (also spelled myun) means "noodle."

    I haven't really eaten authentic jajangmyeon so my bias on this one is only based on the Nongshim brand that I've always bought in the store. I've been addicted to this since I've watched Coffee Prince. And what I like about this particular instant noodles is that the ummm... noodles stays al dente even if you've overcooked it. It doesn't look that appetizing once you've mixed the noodles with the sauce but the taste is really different from the salty, MSG-induced noodles that we're used to here. Annnnnd... it's a huge serving 2 or 3 people can share... even though I can actually finish 2 packs of jajangmyun on my own.

Third on my list is NONGSHIM POTATO NOODLES

    There isn't a particular description in WIKIPEDIA for this type of instant noodles, I wonder why... Isn't it just as popular as kimchi noodles or jajangmyun?
   
    Anyway, this type of instant noodles is different because well, the noodles are made of err, potatoes. It has a different consistency as regular noodles (or maybe it's just me?), different because the noodles are more solid than your regular flour-made noodles. Okay that's too much mention of noodles in one sentence...     I like this because it's different from the regular instant noodles that we have here in the Philippines, aside from the fact that the serving is bigger than what we are all used to here, the noodles are chewy and same with jajangmyeon it doesn't go soggy.

    So now I've already bored you with my favourite noodles, I'm going to add one more to the list of noodles that I wanted to try. The next one is actually hard to find here, I've tried one on a cup but it doesn't seem to be the same one... So I'm still hunting for it.

    It's not a Nongshim brand so maybe that's why I'm unable to find it in regular grocery stores. But this is Cheese Ramyeon, so it's like Kimchi Ramyeon but instead of kimchi it's cheese. More like our macaroni and cheese here. Anyone who's familiar with the brand please, please message me... ^_________^

    Korean grocery stores have been popping up like mushrooms in  the Philippines and there are so many more types of instant noodles I want to try.

    And as I always say... Soooooo many noodles... Soooo little time. ^^