Year-end Specials

Hi eveyrone!

I'm planning a special show to mark the end of 2009 (say whaaaat??). We'd love to hear from all of you about: how your year was what your favorite/most memorable part of 2009 was what your favorite songs or who your favorite singers/groups were and what your plans/hopes/resolutions for 2010 are.

Please email kpop@kbs.co.kr with your answers and we'll pick a few to read on air :) We need your feedback for the KPOP shows as well as for another year-end special, so please write in, everyone~~!!

Thank you~ Saranghae!!

Adieu, Chris :(

Ok, I know I'm 4 months late, but here are some pictures from Chris' birthday/going-away party.

The KBS gang at a restaurant in Hongdae

Chris blowing out his huge cake from Costco :)

Chris and Jackson Kim, one of the hosts of Seoul Calling

I don't know what Chris and I are doing. Sophia, Mr. Choi, Yoon Hye-Won (writer and host of "World Wide Friendship") and Jackson

We managed to take a nice picture

Chris is currently in South America studying Spanish and taking a much-needed break :) We all miss you Chris!

"DJ For A Week" KPOP Connection's 2nd Anniversary

Wow...it's been 3 1/2 months since my last post. That's gotta be a record, right? hehe

죄송합니다~~~!! I'm sorry!!

Here are some pictures from KPOP Connection's special event "DJ For A Week," which commemorated the show's 2nd anniversary. Last year, we invited 3 listeners to co-host the show with us. Selene from Malaysia was the grand prize winner, and was flown over and housed at a hotel, courtesy of KBS World Radio. Listeners Steve (from Malaysia and the US) and Paul (from the US) were also chosen to host the show with Chris and me.

This year, we decided to expand the special event to a week's worth of shows, with 3 guest DJs hosting two shows each. This year's grand prize winner was Kim Shaw, from the US. Two other Americans, Cheyenne Dorsey and James Lockett, were also chosen to co-host the show with us.
The first two weeks of November were busy, busy, busy, but a lot of fun. Young and I had a blast with our special guest DJs and all of us enjoyed the events and festivities that coincided with the show's anniversary.

We had a couple of dinners and nights at the noraebang (singing room/karaoke); we were featured in a local English newspaper, the Korea Times ; and we were guests on a top domestic radio show hosted by singer/song-writer Maybee.

Cheyenne, Kim, me, Maybee, Young and James

Because it was a domestic show, it was all in Korean. Although the guest DJs were a little nervous about speaking Korean, no one was as nervous as I was! I'm not fluent and though I was born and raised in the US, I'm still expected to speak Korean well because I'm Korean by blood. It's a little backwards if you ask me. That being said, I do acknowledge that I need to study the language more, seeing as how I live and work here :P

Anyway, the 30 minutes we were on the show flew by and Maybee's listeners loved Kim, Cheyenne and James. In true Korean fashion, they were asked to show off their "개인기/gaeingi/personal talent." As it was a music radio show, they were asked to sing and they did a great job! Kim sang "소원을 말해봐/Tell Me Your Wish" by Girls' Generation; Cheyenne sang Baek Ji-Young's "나쁜 사람/ Bad Person" from the Hwang Jini OST; and James sang a Yoon Do-Hyun/YB medley.

We bumped into actor Lee Bum-Soo, who was scheduled to go on the show after us. Kim and I said "안녕하세요/Annyeonghasaeyo" to him, but I think he was too shocked by the sight of so many foreigners to say hi back.

Lee Bum-Soo

Although the whole experience was well-documented by the KBS internet team and KBS-staffer Luke Cleary (I think he should have the video up soon...? Check out his video blog anyway because it's fun AND informative ^^ ), I do not have many pictures. My poor baby Nikon is on the fritz and the flash won't work. I did manage to take a few pictures of the recording we did for the special edition of Korean Pop Interactive, which aired on Sunday, November 15th.

Our producer Sophia Hong and Luke

Cheyenne, James, Young and Kim

Kim and Young-in from the KBS World Radio internet team

The rest are photos I took when I gave Kim a guided tour of downtown Seoul. We hit Gwanghwamun, Insadong, Gyeongbok Palace, Cheonggye Stream and Myeongdong. Unfortunately, my camera battery died while we were out, so I only got a few pictures of the palace and Insadong.

Visitors posing with one of the "guards"

When Kim and I went to Insadong for lunch, we found an apple festival on one end of the street and actress Han Ji-Min (from the drama "Cain and Abel" with my man So Ji-sub :P ) participating in a children's charity event on the other.

I felt like such a stalkerazzi (stalker-paparazzi)

Kim enjoying her 모과/mogwa/quince tea. I had the 유자/yuja/citron tea.

And those are all the pictures I took of the event. I'm going to ask Cheyenne and Kim to send me the ones they took with their cameras, but I hope these will do for now ^___^

The rest of the pictures are for Selene, who requested pictures of the beautiful fall foliage.

Star Chat Extravaganza!

I've been extremely lazy with posting and I do apologize. Life happens and when your co-host decides to leave you in the dust things get hectic...just kidding, Chris! But things have been busy at work and though I'm excited for Chris as he embarks on an exciting new chapter in his life, I will miss the kid.

Anyway, here are the Star Chat photos I promised more almost 3 months ago! eek! Where does the time go??


Star Chat: KCM (May 4). Balladeer KCM is like Kim Jong-Gook. They're these huge, muscular guys with voices of sweet angels! hehe I'm just saying, you would not expect a voice like that to come out of a body like that.

The next week, I interviewed JYP's ballad group 2AM (May 17). It was a morning interview so I think we were all a bit out of it (especially me). Jo Kwon was speaking a mile minute and I just sat there, thinking of rainbows and unicorns, or it seemed like it. Sorry for the horrible translating! Chang-Min apparently speaks English but did not want to that morning for some reason. Help a Korean-American girl out, Chang-Min! Oh well, maybe next time!~

Lee Chang-Min and cutie maknae Jung Jin-Oon

Lim Seul-Ong, Lee Chang-Min, Me, Jo Kwon & Jin-Woon

Next up, Chris and I interviewed JYP's "Hottest Time of the Day" boy band 2PM (May 31).
Well, the English-speakers of the group, anyway. Leader and American-born Jae-Beom, Thai-Chinese-American Nichkhun and 1.5 generation Korean-American (he was born in Korea but moved to Boston when he was young) Taecyeon joined us in the studio for their second ever interview in English. It was a treat for us, too, especially since I had been going on and on about how cute I thought Khun to Chris, you listeners and our producer, Sophia. Thanks for booking them, Sophia! I was the envy of every KPOP fangirl :P

Nichkhun, Chris, Jae Beom, Me, Taecyeon

Here are some extra individual shots for you fans. These are my personal pictures that were spread all over the internet and to 2PM fan websites in a matter of days. Our office girl Seong-Young had posted them on her personal Cyworld mini-homepage and a friend took the pictures from her and so on and so on. You can imagine my surprise and confusion when I saw my pictures on a fan video when I hadn't even posted them on the internet yet. The internet is scary sometimes.

Khun

Jae Beom

Taec

On June 14th, we interviewed Lee Jung-Hyun, a.k.a. Ava. The petite singer was bubbly and honest and a pleasure to interview.

Lee Jung-Hyun, Chris and my arm.

And last but not least, I interviewed speed rapper Outsider on July 19. I was not expecting the powerful rapper who can spit out 17 syllables in 1 second to be so humble and good-natured. He was a very sweet guy. He even took the interview question sheet to give to his dad! How cute is that!?

Next up: Pictures from Chris' birthday/going-away party

8eight's First Concert

Sorry for the delay~ Here are some pictures from 8eight's first mini-concert, which was held at Club Answer in Apgujeong on April 24th.
Chris and I had time to quickly say "annyung!" and wish them luck before the show.


The club was packed with people who stood in the rain for hours to get in. Fans came from all over the country (some even flew over from abroad) to see 8eight's first headlining concert.

Baek Chan, Joo-Hee and Lee Hyun

The group sang all of their hits like "Forget About Love and Sing," "Let Me Go" and of course, "Heartless." They sang songs off of all 3 albums, performed special renditions of popular songs like "Oh, Happy Day!" and even read letters they had written to their fans. Each member shed tears at the concert, leading members of the audience to begin chanting "울지마! 울지마!/ Don't Cry! Don't Cry!" All those years of blood, sweat and tears have paid off and I'm glad they are doing well.
8eight's Showvival competitors-cum-friends, V.O.S. and Sweet Sorrow, performed at the concert as the group's special guests.

V.O.S.
(I didn't understand everything Kim Kyeong-Rok said that night, but I do know he was sassy!)

Sweet Sorrow
(Sorry, this is the best picture I could take. I was being pushed around by little girls in the audience--fangirls can be vicious! )

The concert lasted a little over 2 hours (maybe 2 and a half?) and Chris and I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks to 8eight and their manager for hooking us up :)

In other news, we were joined by Malaysian listeners and Hallyu fans Theresa and Molly.

Me, Theresa & Molly outside of KBS

We interviewed them on our daily show, KPOP Connection, and their enthusiasm was contagious.
Hope to see you two again in the future :)

I'll be posting another entry soon with pictures from Star Chat, so look out for that!

8eight and the Beginning of Spring

Here are the pictures of the Yeouido Spring Flower Festival (formerly known as the Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival) I promised~

If you look carefully, you can see petals showering passers-by

...which leads to this: nature's confetti

Trying to study when the weather's warm and the flowers are blooming is next to impossible

Chris and I had the chance to interview R&B/hip-hop trio 8eight again for Korean Pop Interactive (April 12, 2009). We interviewed them almost a year ago (May 14, 2008) and it was fun seeing them again. "Beautiful leader" Lee Hyun, Joo-Hee and rapper Baek-Chan talked about their new album, how their lives and music have changed in the past year and also what they like to do in their free time. They're holding their first ever concert this weekend (April 25th) at Club Answer in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, so check it out if you're in the area!

Baek-Chan, me, Joo-Hee, Chris, Seong-Yeong (our co-worker) and Lee-Hyun

The warm weather and burst of greenery are definitely making me feel cheerier and you can feel and hear the buzz of happy Seoulites whenever you go outside. There are more people strolling around the city and cafes and restaurants have set up tables outside for customers to enjoy the season. I hope you are all enjoying spring (or fall for of you below the equator)~ I certainly am! :)