Finding Dr. Champ (Review)

For a series which has a name as its title, I was surprised that there isn't a character in the new SBS K-drama Dr. Champ called Dr. Champ.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer had Buffy Summers.  My name is Earl had Earl Hickey as the protagonist, Veronica Mars had Veronica Mars, and even iCarly had of course, Carly with the twee voice.  Halfway through the first episode, my mind was yelling, "When are they gonna introduce Dr. Champ?  Where the heck is he?"  After watching the pilot, I then realized how much of a noob I am.  The series is aptly named Dr. Champ because this medical drama essentially follows the lives of doctors and athletes in Taerung Olympic Village -- their passion and dedication to their craft, and the path they have to tread as they overcome obstacles and push themselves to be their own individual champions.  Uh, right, SBS?

Okay.  Let's meet Dr. Kim Yeon Woo (played by the wonderful Kim So Yeon) -- a smart and hardworking resident at the teaching hospital of Hankook who gets to show her spunky side by kicking her male colleagues' kneecaps and ruffling their hair whenever she feels like it.  Although not a graduate of the prestigious Hankook University, she was able to pass her medical residency through sheer intelligence and diligence, subsequently gaining the respect of the chief surgeon, Dr. Seo.  Alas, our feisty heroine gets involved in a medical malpractice cover up by Dr. Seo, and torn between her ambition and morals, she chooses the latter.  As a result, she was tersely given the boot.  Adding to all the histrionics is her cheating jerk of a boyfriend as well as a family who is still in debt from her student loans.

WOOF!

Our next character is Judo athlete Park Ji Heon (Jung Gyu Woon).  There is still much to be explored about his back story -- dead brother, antagonistic and unsupportive sister-in-law, etc. but it is established that he is a cool uncle to his nephew and more importantly, he is a dedicated athlete with insanely awesome pecs, delts, and abs! And he's not afraid to show them!  Nooo sir.  SBS has him pulling off a Jacob every now and then -- not that I'm complaining.  Why would I?  Too many hot athletes in this drama! Someone give me oxygen!  

A fortuitous meeting involving a purse, a pickpocket, and a balloon lantern, establishes a bond between the doctor and the good-hearted athlete.  Kim even treats Park's necrotic leg by grabbing a scalpel and incising the necrotic muscle without giving him a proper warning or come to think of it, proper anesthesia.  I don't know about you, but an incision with that length, oozing with that blood, gave me the creeps while watching this scene.  The medicine woman's quick thinking saves Park Ji Heon from becoming an amputee and makes him all the more smitten with her.  So much so that while still recuperating in the hospital, with nothing but a hospital gown on, he borrows his patient-roomie's clothes (Ewww! Transfer of BO alert!), then invites her out on a date.  It's the beginning of a cute, sweet, and funny relationship.  (Not ha-ha-hilarious funny but more of, tee hee funny.)

Enter Dr. Lee Do Wook (Uhm Tae Woong), a cane-wielding, sarcastic, cantankerous, but brilliant doctor from Johns Hopkins whom the Taerung Olympic Village hires as its new medical director.  Yeah I know, the comparison between House and Lee is inevitable with the latter even popping pills into his mouth in a very House-like manner.  Nonetheless, I love Uhm Tae Woong and I like me some McMeany lovin'.  So yeah, no fuss over here because that's two for the price of one! Wootness!! :)

Dr. Lee quickly assumes leadership of the medical board and makes the necessary reformations.  He also meets an old flame; swimming coach Kang Hee Young (Cha Rye Yun) with whom, it seems, he still carries a torch for -- courtesy of a steamy, HOT HOT HOT-I-tell-you, pool scene flashback.

Geez, get a room people!

Meanwhile, our heroine is having a hard time finding another job, not because she doesn't have the proper credentials but because every hospital in the entire Korean peninsula is afraid of getting the ire of Dr. Seo, Yeon's ex-mentor.  She goes back to her former hospital and confronts her ex-boss, just within Lee's earshot.  Our   protagonist doctors then chance upon each other on the elevator ride going down and Lee just basically gives her unsolicited advice on how doctors should always stick together, that she shouldn't have ratted out her colleagues -- going as far as reminding her of the "colleague as my sibling" part in the Hippocratic oath, and to consider changing careers since no one is going to hire her anyway.  Mistaking him for a patient, she delivers a snappy comeback which somehow amuses him (love the smirk!).  Their quick verbal exchange is witty and hilarious.  Hee!  Elevator scenes are always the best! :)

So Kim's jerkass, doctor ex-boyfriend isn't useless after all.  He goes after her before she can leave the hospital and helpfully informs her that the Olympic Village is in need of a physician.  She lashes out at him and tells him that she will never, nope, na'ah, no way, forget it, over her dead body, ever work in Taerung.  Dr. Lee, of course, hears all this.  We don't know if he's insulted or not, or if he actually feels some sympathy for Kim, but one thing's for sure -- this feisty young doctor has certainly caught his interest.

Finally, after numerous job rejections with self-pity and hopelessness starting to gnaw in on her, Kim decides to give herself pneumonia by getting soaked in the rain. LOL! K-dramas and their fake rain! :) No seriously, she reconsiders and applies for the post of physician at the Olympic Village.  And then on the day of interview... (insert three dun sound effect here), she sees Lee among the panel members (gak!).  WHO.. WHA...TH-TH-THAT CRIPPLED SCHMUCK IS A DOCTOR???  He sits down, then gives our home girl the eye, seemingly saying, "Yes, I am the awesome Dr. Lee Do Wook, medical chief of this facility, and the guy you humiliated in the elevator. YOU. ARE. SO. SCREWED!"  Oh Kim Yeon Woo, what ever are you going to do now? 

I'm really liking this series.  Dr. Champ is intelligent, funny, witty, pleasant to the eyes, and surprisingly, fast-paced. The musical score in itself, is very refreshing and toe-tappingly sweet.  It is realistic enough to be accessible yet whimsically light enough to continue to strike that balance as a medical drama and a human story.  Though I cringe a bit at some of the show's medical inaccuracies, the scenes are very well done -- clever writing, great acting, and very well-directed.  And good call on the charming ensemble casting!  I'm crossing my fingers that Dr. Champ maintains its' high following and I'm already hoping for, and looking forward to the next episodes.

Dr. Champ!  Hwaiting! ♥♥♥

The Eh-ffice Season 7 Premiere

Erin, seriously?  This guy?

Considering that this will be Steve Carell's last season in The Office, I was hoping that Thursday's season premiere would come out with a bang.  But meh, nothing much has changed.  The music video at the beginning of the show did not excite me at all and I just found it a wee bit funny (probably because I've already seen much of it posted on youtube and on the NBC site) and kinda desperate for laughs.  The only "whoa" moment for me was when Gabe (yep, GABE!!) gave Erin an awkward peck on the cheek whilst in front of a poor, heartbroken Andy.  Erin confessed that she and Gabe had been going steady and the reason she agreed to go out with him was because Gabe was her boss.  Somebody, alert Toby!!!  Of course, Andy flat out denied being jealous.  Nope, the Nard Dog took anger management classes, remember?  He then proceeded to use visualization techniques to control his emotions -- imagining a beautiful beach, calm ocean... and a whale having Gabe for desserts.  Haha! Andy, you funny!  I have to admit that this eccentric love triangle between Erin, Andy, and Gabe is one of things I'll be most excited about this season, the other one being the inevitable reunion between Michael and true-wuv Holly Flax.  When, oh when, is this going to happen, NBC?  Okay, I'm going to be patient...  

Dwight, true to character of being the new owner of Dunder Mifflin's building, behaved like a total dic*-tator throughout the episode -- controlling the office temperature, arrogantly prancing around, carrying his humongous set of keys, and yelling to anyone who did not abide by his rules.  And as for Pam and Jim... Ah, we get it!  You guys are adorable and cute and your domestic bliss is the envy of every housewife living from Wisteria Lane to  New Jersey, but dude, those pranks are getting old and not cute at all.  Seriously, the writers need to do something exciting for this couple.  

Meanwhile, the ultra-funny and lovely Kelly Kapoor, spent the summer taking a minority management training program at Yale and sort of, tried to rub it on anyone who cares -- albeit fruitlessly.  LOL! 

Michael hired a new assistant named Luke who, inspite of his incompetence and utter disrespect to everyone, Michael stubbornly refused to fire -- much to the chagrin of his employees.  As it turned out, Luke was actually Michael's nephew, hence the show's title: Nepotism.  Michael tried, really tried, to tolerate Luke as much as possible but when the punk annoyed  Michael to death with his verbal imitation games (honestly, is this jackass like, five years old?) the world's greatest boss just lost it and spanked him like his mother!  As a consequence, corporate agreed to address Michael's use of corporal punishment by having him take sessions of counselling from his mortal "enemy": HR rep, Toby Flenderson.  Oh, the look of horror on Michael's face!!

All in all, nothing much to be crazy about aside from the aforementioned love triangle.  I'm really hoping that The Office' excite-o-meter perks up soon.  Otherwise, I might just lose interest to the show and to the characters.  Ah shucks, who am I kidding?  I love The Office very much that I'm willing to wait patiently for the show to regain the smart, fast, and confident comedy that it used to have.   Peace out, girl scout! :)

Oral Exams and Fall TV

Wow! This week has been really overwhelming (and it's only Wednesday).  Assignments are starting to pile up and this is also the time that professors are starting to give out those little nasty surprise quizzes and oral examinations to check if your brain has actually absorbed something during the last meeting (mostly, you don't).  The last time I had a pop oral exam was a year ago and it was with one of the most difficult and fastidious Economics professors in the university.  I nearly had a heart attack when she called my name and ordered me to discuss consumer behavior and indifference curves.  She was completely stoic the whole time I was struggling with my answer and perspiring in buckets.  When I was finished, all she did was give me a "harumph" kind of snort.  I never found out what grade I got in that oral exam and worse, I had indigestion for a week.

These past few weeks have also been eventful especially for television because a lot of new shows (Hawaii Five-O, Outsourced, Nikita, etc.) as well as returning TV series, have had their season premieres.  Ah, one of the reasons why I love fall. :-) Some are yet to start their run this week but the fact remains that there are plenty of shows that I would sooo love to watch and write/rant about, but I don't know where to start.  On top of that, I'm also aiming to finish Dong Yi's 50th episode before the week ends.  On my previous post, I blogged that I would be writing my initial review of the much-beloved K-drama soon.  However, downloading three to four episodes of Dong Yi every night, watching them, taking notes, remembering all the characters and past events; while DVRing my favorite TV series, and trying (more like pretending) to read about nomenclatures and isomers; all seem to be too much work.  It's driving me nuts.

Recently, a friend encouraged me to work as a part-time library assistant to supplement my meager allowance.  Apparently, he was sick of hearing me whine about how I was always completely broke -- I've been doing that since Freshman year.  Hee!  "It's extra cash and if you could save enough, it would help pay off your student loans," he insisted.  But as much as I appreciate his uh, thoughtfulness; I had to politely decline.  Juggling college, social life, TV, and blogging takes a lot of time and commitment.  Besides, I intend to run from my student loans the moment I get my diploma by moving to a remote village in Asia, South America, or Fiji.  They can't take my money if I'm not in the country, right?  Right?  Boy, I really must be going nuts.

Down, Down, Down

Of all the things the Internet hosts, 

This is one of the websites I love the most.

http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/

Thank You, Readers!

Let me take this opportunity to thank you guys for having the interest and the patience to read this blog.  It has been a thrill connecting with you, dear readers, for the past three months.  I've been checking on my stats lately and I've found out that the most frequently read posts in my blog are my final reviews of Queen Seon Deok.  I was a relatively new blogger when I wrote those entries so you would notice that some of the paragraph alignments, placement of pictures, even grammar, were slightly off.  But thank you very much for reading them anyway.  (I've decided not to re-edit those posts to preserve their "ancient authenticity".)

A friend once asked me if I'd be doing a review of Dong Yi soon and I may.  But that would still depend on my mood and academic load when I finish watching the first 50 episodes.  I'm hoping to accomplish that before the month ends (crosses fingers).   As expected, due to high ratings, MBC has decided to extend the franchise to 20 more monster episodes (again, with the milking! grrr!).  So, I'd probably have to write a Dong Yi Review: Part Deux.  

In the meantime, I might just blog on anything that I see on TV, read on a magazine or a book, hear on the news; rant about life on college, or do recaps and reviews of my favorite movies or shows.  At any rate, I do hope you'll continue to come back and read my latest entries.  I have to apologize that sometimes, I do tend to ramble and digress.  At other times,  I would make some grammer, er... grammar mistakes as I'm a little bit lazy re-reading my posts; much less checking for correct subject-verb agreement, misuse of articles and prepositions, dangling modifiers, etc.  On a lazy day, I might even write something dumb and totally boring.  Nonetheless, I'll do my very best to hold your interest and I'll try to re-check and review my articles from time to time to make them free from errors in grammar, spelling, and mechanics.  

Thanks for bearing with me.  I welcome all comments, feedback, rants, criticism, flaming, or what have you.  Anything is appreciated.  Again, thank you!!!  Peace out! 

The League of Bieberettes

Okay, so the ubiquitous Justin Bieber won Best New Artist on this year's MTV Video Music Awards.  Wow, talk about POWER.  This guy, at the tender age of 16, has got it all -- an ultra-hot mentor, a Lamborghini, a solid fan base numbering... I don't know, a ji-jillion?  He's got his own music monarchy, his devoted legionnaires, his imperial army of teens and pre-teens -- even his legion of fans make up about 3% of Twitter's servers at any given time.  A Twitter employee sums up the magnitude of the ever-growing Bieber mania, "Every time Bieber tweets, his messages have to be delivered to more than five million people who then endlessly retweet it."  Whoa!  Jay Leno even comments that were Justin not a minor, or a Canadian citizen for that matter; he can easily win the US presidency on a landslide.  LOL!  And now, the guy is about to be on CSI!

Justin, if my world is your world, why don't you give me that sweet $200K  Ferrari?

It used to be that I could only hear Justin's pipes whenever I tune in to MTV.  But now, he's basically everywhere -- trending on the Internet, on TMZ (getting smacked on the head by that flying water bottle and bumping on revolving doors in a continuous loop); on E!, Fox and Friends, Nick, etc.  I see his face plastered all over malls.  I hear his songs on my best friend's playlist, on my playlist (oops!), and on my mom's "For Jogging" playlist!  One study group mate actually observes, "Wow.  Don't you guys feel that Justin's your boyfriend?  I mean everywhere you go, you see him."

A few months ago, I visited a friend in PA and sat next to a group of female 14-year olds in the bus.  One of them cranked up her cell phone in full Dolby volume and played a Justin Bieber song.  The other girls, as if suddenly struck by bolts of lightning, went absolutely berserk!

"Oh my God!  I totally love this song, like freakin' loove it!"

"Did you guys see Justin on Leno?  Like OMG, he's totally hot, like dreamy hot!"

"Yeah, he's awesome!"

"And he plays the drums like crazy!"

"Roy Stevenson told everyone in class that Justin Bieber is a jerk."

"No way!  That Roy is an ugly moron!"

"Yeah, he sure is.  Like a total loooser!"

They were still ragging loudly on how much of a butt-face and an idiot poor Roy Stevenson was, oblivious to the dagger stares being given to them; when the bus driver stood up and snapped, "Young misses, if you don't keep quiet, everyone here is ready to karate chop you!"  That instantly shut them up.  Heh!

Oh Mon Dieu!

If you have yet to see the season premiere of Gossip Girl, please stop reading.  Warning:  Spoilers ahead!

Well, everybody iz hurtin' in zis epizode.  It takes time to get over a heartbreak -- not even the art treasures of Louvre, the best art galleries; neither Paris' cozy cafes, nor shopping in Les Grand Magasins can mend a broken heart.  And being sexually promiscuous isn't going to help ease the pain either.  That's right, Nate.

Blair shoves Serena into a  fountain! Absolutely wacky and side-splitting! This is the reason why I adore these frenemies!  Then they kiss and make-up after an honest admission from Blair.  Apparently,she's still getting over the pain from her breakup with Chuck and she desperately needs Serena right now.  Touche.

So they're both going to Columbia?  LOL!  Let the catfights and the hissy fits begin -- IVY league style, of course!   Love, love those fabulous clothes.  :)

Erm, do modern-day princes still disguise themselves as modest folks just to test their potential flames' true wuv and honesty?  That's is so... Dickensian.  Ah Blair, why are you always such a prince-disguised-as-a-pauper magnet?  

Evil b**** and baby mama, Georgina -- still wreaking havoc to the Humphrey's.  Rufus, boring and edgy as usual.  Man, will you flippin' relax?  Dan's a natural at this parenting thing?  Haha!  Let's see you how you manage college and diaper rash, Lonely Boy.  And yeah, the new 'do is cute.  Oh, drat!  Why.  Is.  Vanessa.  Still.  Around?  Didn't those 3-D piranhas finish her off already? 

Chuck, very much alive and looking hot and sexy as ever with Fleur Delacour from The Goblet of Fire.  Honestly Chuck, Henry?  Can't you come up with a more non-lame name?  Chenry and Fleur head to Paris.  Can't wait for the inevitable train station-set reunion between Chuck and Blair next week!  That is going to be AWESOME!

Nate catches the eye of a young woman who agrees to help him with his re-lay-shun-ship problems. GASP!  Is she?  Could she?  Possibly be?... Gossip Girl?  Sacre bleu!

Never Forget

Let us take a long moment today and remember those who died -- and then resolve to hold our neighbor's hand, help someone in need, and make a plan for tomorrow.  God bless America!

Bite Me!

I've frequently heard of stories about people who missed their planes and who had to endure the hassle of rebooking, waiting for the next available flight, or just losing their tickets.  Usually, every time I hear rants such as these, I snap, "Well, you should have gotten to the airport early." 

I was supposed to be leaving town today with some college friends.  Our flight was at 8 AM and we agreed to meet at 6 so that we could head to the airport together.  Unfortunately, one of my companions pressed the snooze button so much and ended up 30 minutes late.  She kept apologizing while in the cab but we were too busy biting our nails and yelling at the driver to "FLOOR IT!!"  We arrived at the airport 10 minutes before 8 and just as we expected, the snippy airport personnel refused to let us board, even marking haughtily the "The boarding gate will close 15 minutes before departure" entry written into each of our itineraries with a big, fat, hot yellow, highlighter.  While we were pleading our case, our friend; and the obvious cause of our delay, suddenly lurched herself on the front desk and began wailing, "No, you don't understand!! We need to get on that plane!!!  For the love of God, pleaseeeeee, won't you let us board that plane???"  She was weeping and gnashing her teeth, and we had to drag her away from the stunned receptionists before she could bite them and cause anymore further embarrassment.  So yeah, we missed our flight.  What a bummer!  We had no other choice but to rebook our flight, pay the additional charges, and wait for five more hours.  

Thus, to while away the time, I borrowed a friend's laptop and searched the Internet for news regarding the much-anticipated second season of The Vampire Diaries.  Damon is soooo much hotter than Edward.  

The Vampire Diaries premieres tonight.  Sink your teeth into the steamy hit.  GO. WATCH.      

Who's Got The Power?

It's interesting and coincidentally ironic.  Just when we're celebrating Labor Day (summer, I hardly knew ye), the top television networks in Korea (MBC, KBS, SBS) have been beset by union strikes over withheled employee wages.  I had been following Korean entertainment blogs for the past few weeks over news concerning the strike made by the Korean Broadcasting, Film, and Performing Artists Labor Union whose actors and film crews make up a majority of our favorite K-Dramas.  Now, this is a serious issue because if the strike prolongs and negotiations will not be settled soon; this can severely impact the K-Entertainment Industry and cause devastating economic effects.  If there's a lesson we could all learn from, it's from the 2007 Writer's Guild of America Strike -- the pen  is costlier than the sword.  Ultimately, nobody wins in a strike.  It's going to hurt everyone and the business.  The WGA strike alone resulted in billions of losses for Hollywood with millions of dollars in lost wages for cast and crews of shuttered film and television productions.  Adding to the stigma is the fact that since Tinseltown was paralyzed, majority of television programs were interrupted, delayed, prematurely shorted, postponed, or cancelled.

"Network bosses, rich and rude!  We don't like your attitude!"

Thankfully, as of this writing, the three Korean networks have finally reached an agreement with the union and hope is fast looming in the horizon.  Woot!  We might still be able to see Dong Yi's resident she-devil; Jang Hee Bin,  get egged in the face.  Hah!

So on this long weekend, as we head on our road trips and feast on our barbecues, let us fly our flags and remember those who toiled, labored, and made it possible for America to become what it is today.

A Mod Affair

You know what's awesome?  Don Draper's classic vibe.  You know what's more awesome?  Having Uhm Tae Woong rock out to Draper's signature duds.   

Don Draper Style.  Don Draper Attitude.

Ay, Basura!

Just received a memo from the Scholarship Committee that my application as a foreign exchange student in a South American university got denied.  Hmmm... Must be my atrocious Spanish.  I'm not sad though.  I'm more surprised that I got a response from them considering that I submitted my application almost a year ago.  Oh well...  Meanwhile, a dear classmate  is going to Japan!  How do you say it?  Aha.. Sayonara, Jamie!! 

CSI: Joseon Dynasty

Sadako. Hates. Reruns.

My former roommate Becky, who introduced me to the wonderful world of Asian Film and Television some months ago, told me that once I  get to watch one of their movies or TV series, I shall never stop.  "They're like bubble wraps.  Once you pop one bubble, you cannot resist popping another, and another, and another; and then the whole thing.  And you eventually become an addict.  Resistance is futile," she cautions conspiratorially.  And I'm like, "Nah.  I'm not really into movies with subtitles. So, I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna slide into that."  In fact, the last couple of Asian movies that I have seen were either for my critique papers in  Humanities class or those that my former dorm screened during its' monthly Friday Night Fright Fest.  The only Asian horror movie that I watched was Japan's The Ring (the American version was amusing) and it freaking creeped the beejesus out of me.  So much so that I wasn't able to sleep or look at the TV for several nights.  That Sadako lady is one scary mother.  *shivers*  Good thing it was Finals Week so I needed to stay awake anyway.  (Sadako - 1.  Red Bull - 0.)  


I had also been exposed into anime as a child (i.e Doraemon, Pokemon, Akazukin Chacha) and I had a major crush on Samurai X' Kenshin  when I was 10; but as far as Asian cinema and their television programs went, they did not really pique my interest.  I have poor eyesight so reading subtitles bugged me.

That changed in May when Becky; who is a music major, excitedly shoved a bundle of DVDs up my nose while I was having breakfast.  "You have to watch this Korean series -- Beethoven Virus!!  It's about an orchestra and the conductor is amazing!!  But he's a major jerk!  And then he falls for his first violinist who's on the verge of losing her hearing!  And there's this old man who has Alzheimer's. I know you hate subs but you'll like this I swear!! Where the heck's your remote?"  She was still mumbling breathlessly and unintelligibly as she fumbled my DVD player.

So, that was basically the start of my addiction to Asian cinema and television.  I particularly have a fondness for Korean dramas, especially the historical ones.  God bless the Internet and the advent of WiFi, I can watch these shows even if I'm in the middle of Harvard Square. 

Some months ago, I tried learning the basics of Korean through my good friend Mike who is Korean-American.  But Mike was totally useless and he kept insisting that he was already fourth generation.  And I'm like, "Yeah, so what?"  And then he would pout and grumble silently while reading Korean for Dummies.  Haha! Peace, Mike! :-) 

As this blog shows, I am already finished with my Queen Seon Deok fix.  I started watching MBC's Lee San or Yi San last month but man, oh man, that drama totally tested the limits of my patience.  It was like watching a documentary on yeast while being high on sedatives.  Hence, even if I found the crown prince's dimples cute, I abandoned Yi San after 15 episodes, and switched to the more-recent sageuk drama; Dong Yi.  

I'm so glad I decided to watch Dong Yi instead because even if it retains all the basic soap opera elements of a typical K-drama, the storylines are much faster-paced and secrets are being uncovered immediately.  Although it's not as ambitious, massive, grand scale, and as nail-biting as Queen Seon Deok; the schemes and counter-schemes are just as exciting.  Furthermore, it's hard not to root for Dong Yi  (Han Hyo Joo) -- a feisty, intelligent, and witty CSI agent/palace maid/musician servant/water girl all-rolled-into one; as she exposes and foils dastardly plots bent on overthrowing the kingdom; gains the trust of the king, and eventually captures his heart.  Whee!  I love fairy tales! :-) 

"Who are you?  Who, who, who, who?"

King Sukjong is played by Ji Jin Hee whom I've seen in Jewel in The Palace several years ago.  I noticed then that he has got to have the cutest and kindest eyes, but I was always distracted by his hat.  Seeing him again in Dong Yi, not only does he have the most gorgeous eyes, he has the warmest smile and the heartiest laugh ever.  

I'm now at episode 30 and so far, the King; after almost losing Dong Yi for several months, is starting to express his admiration and love for her (albeit awkwardly).  I love how he always acts so naturally whenever he's around our girl.  At one point, he is so smitten by her that he suddenly starts muttering incoherently about office spaces and other nonsensical stuffs. LOL! 

Ah, Cha Chun Soo, loyal best friend and resident tortured soul.  You poor thing.  Join me as I drunkenly sing, "If you could see that I'm the one who understands you.  Been here all along.  So why can't you seeee?  You belong with meeeee.  You belong with me."

Start of Semestral Rant-A-Thon

I had just finished my summer classes and I CANNOT, for the life of me, believe that I'm back to school again.  *Groans*  

Hello Ramen, you old friend!  We've been together for so long, huh?