Last February 12, 2020, SM Mall of Asia finally opened their Food Hall which is located at the 3rd floor of the Main Mall just across the skating rink. It is big that's why it can occupy a lot of different restaurant tenants.

Since I'm currently on my internship at SM Hotels, which is just around MOA, we were able to visit the food hall and got to check out what it offers. What caught my attention was this Korean restaurant - Seoul Good! Korean Grill. Of course, I'm a K-enthusiast so what are you gonna expect?

What does Seoul Good offer?

My Review

This is my first time writing a review about a Chinese drama. The King's Avatar is the second Chinese drama that I have finished watching. Yang Yang is actually the main reason why I started watching it because of Love O2O. Yes, I'm a bit biased with Yang Yang because visually speaking, looking good would be an understatement.

The reason why I barely watch Chinese dramas is because there are a lot of episodes. I do not have a lot of time since I am currently on my internship and I still have some outside works. But since I had a short break before my last term in the university starts, I decided to watch it.

About The King's Avatar

Title: The King's Avatar (全职高手)
Episodes: 40 episodes (around 35-45 minutes per episode)
Airing Period: July 24, 2019 - August 30, 2019
Characters:



Since there are a lot of characters from this series, I will just be sharing to you the protagonists - Team Happy (from left to right).

Mo Fan played by Yang Tingdong
An Wen Yi played by Li Junchen
Qiao Yi Fan played by Fan Jinwei
Tang Rou played by Li Yujie
Chen Guo played by Jiang Shuying
Ye Xiu played by Yang Yang
Su Mucheng played by Lai Yumeng
Bao Rongxing played by Lai Yi
Luo Ji played by Sun Ning
Wei Chen played by Bai Xiang
Wu Chen played by Song Hanyu

Plot: Ye Xiu, who was better known as Ye Qiu in the Glory world, is a well known player who has an intriguing personality since he always covers half of his face whenever they have a competition. Although he is famous, he barely brings profits to the team since he doesn't accept any advertisements. With that, he was forced to quit his team. He started working on an Internet Cafe, just across his old building. Since his love for Glory remains, he continued to start again from the bottom.

Facts: The King's Avatar was actually an online Chinese web novel. Because of it's popularity, it was adapted into an anime. Just last 2019, The King's Avatar became a live-action TV series with Yang Yang as the main character.

Things I liked about The King’s Avatar

The Characters

Like what I have mentioned earlier, the main reason why I watched this series is because of Yang Yang. Yang Yang may not be the best Chinese actor out there but for me, at least his acting somehow improved here. I saw another side of Yang Yang that I couldn’t see during Love O2O.

Yang Yang’s acting during the twin scenes were fun to watch. I was able to distinguish who’s who. Meaning, Yang Yang portrayed those two characters well. Although he still needs some improvement especially in showing more emotions, I was still satisfied with his acting here.

As the story progresses, more and more characters were added. And it only means, more characters to love. Aside from Yang Yang, I also liked these following characters.


Han Wenqing played by Gu Youming. He is the captain of Tyranny.
Wang Jiexi played by Gu Yufeng. He is the captain of Tiny Herb.
Yu Wenzhou played by Gao Hanyu. He is the captain of Blue Rain.

Although they are all considered as Ye Xiu's competitor in the Glory world, they still treat each other as friends especially when the heads of the competition wanted Ye Xiu to be suspended. They may fight each other during the online battles but they are good friends.

They may have fewer scenes in the series but they have gained a place in my heart. I'm still hoping to see them in the second season of The King's Avatar.


Not only the team captains, but these young ones has also captured my attention.

Mo Fan played by Yang Tingdong. He is one of the recruits of Ye Xiu. He barely talks in the series. The reason why he got my attention was because he looks like a combination of Lee Hangyul and Jun.K.

Huang Shaotian played by Jiang Long. He is one of the members of Blue Rain and is really close with Ye Xiu. I first noticed him because he has a very wide smile. And then, he is very funny in the series because he is talkative.

Qui Fei played by Di Zilu. He is part of the Excellent Era (Ye Xiu's former team) and was actually Ye Xiu's apprentice. He actually caught my attention because he really looks good. I'm still looking forward for an escalation of his character.

The Amazing 3d Animations

As a Multimedia Artist who hates doing 3D models and animation, I am very much impressed with this series. The character models were different from each other. Meaning, you can clearly recognize whose avatar’s this is. Their avatars were the perfect representation of the characters.


Regarding the animation, I really enjoyed watching the fight scenes. It made me feel like I was really playing the game also. The movements were smooth, yet you can still feel the vibe that it is from an online game.

This is probably one of the main reasons why I continued watching this series. The models and animation were so good that even a non-gamer can actually appreciate games.

The Series itself has an Anime Vibes

Before the live-action started, it became an anime first. Although it has an anime adaptation, the live action was able to do well. It has an anime vibes because the characters really do act like they are an anime character. Not only that, I also started to reminisce some of the animes that I have watched before like Prince of Tennis.

Things I somehow dislike with The King’s Avatar

They cut episodes while one is speaking

I know that cliff hanging is a strategy so that the viewers will really look forward for the next episode. Yes, it was effective on my part, but I got irritated because they cut it when one is not yet done speaking. They could have cut it at the end of the scene. But no, they cut it in the middle of the scene which made me a little irritated.

Well, not all the episodes. But most of them.

Lack of Character Build Up

I believe the webtoon of this series is really good that’s why it became famous. Unfortunately, everything seemed to be on a fast pacing game that I did not see how the characters grow. I was expecting a lot from Sun Xiang’s transformation. It was good how he suddenly understood how to play the game as a team in the end of the drama but the progress were not that okay. Like, he found a new rival and suddenly he changed. I don’t think it’s that easy.

Not only that, the characters from the Happy Team also lacks progress. They may have taken a huge screen time but I did not feel their characters improved. I needed a deeper building up on these characters. If only they were able to build it up well, then probably the series would be better.

Many episodes yet lacks content

There were a lot of episodes. From my common 16 episodes from Korean dramas, this series was doubled. Imagine watching 40 episodes with at least 35-45 minutes each. It will really take a lot of time. So I was expecting that because this has a lot of episodes, the contents will be stretched out. Unfortunately, it wasn’t balanced.

Some scenes could have lesser screen time while others could have longer ones. They were not able to balance it making it looks like it lacks content.

Conclusion and Lessons

Although it wasn’t a series that I would recommend to all, I still enjoyed watching it. Actually, it somehow gave me somehow like a “separation anxiety” since I no longer know what to do after watching it. It took a lot of time from me but deep inside I was still hoping that there will be more episodes because I want to see more of them especially Yang Yang.

Not only that, I also wanted to see more progress from the characters’ personal lives and how they will achieve things.

This series taught me a lot of lessons. First, it taught me that no matter what happens, I can start over again. Seeing how Ye Xiu retired and decided to come back to Glory made me realize that I can also come back doing the things I love like singing, writing, drawing, etc.

Second, the series taught me that we need to work smartly. In our lives, people always tell us to work hard. Yes, working really hard can bring you success but working smartly will bring you success and happiness. In Yi Fan's part, he was really working hard to prove himself. Although he showed some progress, he still needed more. When the right mentor came and taught him how to work smartly, he improved a lot.

Third, there are a lot of paths. I always thought that in order to achieve this dream, this is the only path that I should take. But I was wrong. There are a lot of paths. In this series, Ye Xiu really loved playing Glory. But when he was thrown away from his team, he looked for other ways to continue playing. Instead of stopping, he continued to search for a new way and eventually helped other people too.

Overall, I still enjoyed watching this series (main reason is Yang Yang) and I can’t wait for the next season. According to some sources, they have confirmed that there will be The King’s Avatar will be returning with season 2. I saw that the target date is the end of 2020. Although they will be having a season 2, the casts are not yet confirmed. I am still hoping that they will have the same casts with new faces of course. I’m still hoping that Yang Yang will still play the role of Ye Xiu. I heard in some cases, they sometimes change the actors.

If you have read some of my KDRAMA reviews, you'll probably know how much I hate watching on-going series because I don't like waiting for the next episode. But let Itaewon Class be an exception.

Ever since news about Itaewon Class were released, I have been waiting for it. Not only because of its casts but also because it will be a live adaptation of the famous webtoon with the same title. I badly want to see how they will make those characters to life.

According to Nielsen Korea, the pilot episode garnered a 5.0% viewership rating nationwide and 5.3% on the second episode. This only shows how a lot of people are interested already in this drama. Hope it even get higher ratings on the next episodes!

Itaewon Class Episode 1 and 2 Recap

Itaewon Class is a story of a boy named Park Saero Yi who decides to live his life based on what he thinks is right - his belief. He learned it from his father.

The series started with a girl, Jo Yi Seo, having a counselling session. She is telling how she feels like life is a chore.


One day, Park Saero Yi and his father had to transfer places because of his father's work. So, he also transferred school. On the first day of school, Park Saero Yi already made a scene by punching the chairman's son, Jang Geun Won, because he was bullying one of their classmates. The chairman was his father's boss.

He went to their school and asked him that if he kneels and ask for apology, he wouldn't be expelled. But since he stands with what he believes, he didn't ask for an apology and was expelled. His father, on the other hand, decided to resign and create his own restaurant.

Park Saero Yi eventually became friends with the girl in the orphanage named Oh Soo Ah. In the earlier scenes, they were actually not in good terms. Everything seems to be going so well in their lives until one accident changed it all.

Park Saero Yi's father got into an accident and died. During the funeral wake, police officers went to meet Park Saero Yi to update him about their investigation. A man has claimed that he was the one who hit his father. Upon seeing the photos of the car, Oh Soo Ah told him that it was Jang Geun Won's car.

Due to anger, Saero Yi looked for Geun Won and found him in the hospital. He was so mad that he punched him many times until he decided to hit Geun Won's head with a rock. Good thing, Soo Ah and the police officers arrived on time and stopped Saero Yi from committing murder. Because of what he did, he was sent to jail. The chairman gave him another chance that if he would kneel and ask for forgiveness, they will no longer push with the case. But Saero Yi was firm. He went to prison for 3 years.

After 3 years, he was released and went to Itaewon to meet Oh Soo Ah. In Itaewon, there are different kinds of people. Plus, it is a happy place where people get to celebrate Halloween too. After meeting Oh Soo Ah, he said that he will be a seaman for 7 years and after that he will be having his own restaurant in Itaewon.

And just like what he said, Saero Yi did it.

My Thoughts

Pre-Fanmeet Story

D-DAY

After the press conference, I decided to meet my friends and have lunch with them at Kko Kko, just near New Frontier Theater. And guess what, Kim Myung Soo just passed by not only once, but twice. He has bodyguards with him but he keeps on roaming around the place.

A fan-made video was also shown on screen that showed Pinoy fans’ love for him. Fans also held banners that read “The wait is over. I am coming to you now,” a project of fan bases Infinite PH-Beyond Infinite PH, Kim Myungsoo Philippines and MyungYeol Philippines. He described it as “beautiful video. Thank you for the love you’ve shown me.” - Manila Bulletin

I've been really wanting to watch another Yoon Shi Yoon comedy-drama series. Ever since 2D1N had its hiatus, I barely see updates from Yoon Shi Yoon. Although he had two dramas in 2019, I didn't watch his "Nokdu Flower" since I am not much of a sageuk fan. So, I'm really looking forward to watch Psychopath Diary.

And just like what I said in my other reviews, I always watch dramas that are already done so that I no longer need to wait for the next episode.

ABOUT THE DRAMA

Things I like about Psychopath Diary

Relatable lines

No love story involved

The other characters - Family and Friends

Yoon Shi Yoon x Heo Sung Tae Tandem

The Whole Plot

Conclusion & Lesson

When The Camellia Blooms was the first K-Drama that I finished this 2020, although it was released in 2019. As much as possible, I try not to watch on-going series because I don't want to wait for the next episode.

The main reason why I wanted to watch this is because of Kang Ha Neul. It was his first drama after he got discharged from the military. I've been really following Kang Ha Neul since To the Beautiful You. And I fell in love with him even more during Scarlet Heart.

Aside from that, I have been receiving a lot of news that this drama is really good. In fact, it has high ratings. So I decided to watch it. NOTE: This review may contain spoiler. So if you don't want to be spoiled, don't read it and just watch it immediately.

ABOUT THE DRAMA

Gong Hyo Jin as Dongbaek
Kang Ha Neul as Yong Shik
Kim Ji Suk as Jong Ryul
Kim Kang Hun as Kang Pil Gu
Oh Jung Se as Noh Gyu Tae
Yeom Hye Ran as Hong Ja Young
Ji Yi Soo as Jessica
Son Dam Bi as Choi Hyang Mi

The drama is all about a single mom named Dongbaek who raised her son in a province called Ongsan. She runs a bar-restaurant named Camellia which caused a lot of people to spread rumors about her. All her life, she was told that she has an unlucky fate. Her mother left her which made her an orphan. She has no husband but has a child. And a serial killer targets to kill her since she was there when her friend was killed. But despite all of that, she gained new strength from Yong Shik, a police man.

Things I liked about When The Camellia Blooms

Kang Ha Neul's great acting

The Ending Twist

How they portray a mother's love

The Ahjumma Squad

Things I somehow disliked with When The Camellia Blooms

Dragging Scenes

Conclusion & Lessons

Probably one of the most shocking and heartbreaking news that KPOP fans, especially ONE ITs (X1's fandom name), received early 2020 was X1's disbandment. X1 is a South Korean boy group formed from MNET's Produce X 101. Debuting in August 2019, X1 proved that they are more than just a rookie group.

Even for a short promotion time, X1 has been rising up. They have placed No. 1 for a couple of times on different music shows. Not only that, they also have high ranks on Billboard's Artist 100, Social 50, World Albums and World Digital Song Sales chart. Their debut album Quantum Leap became the fourth-best-selling album in Korea.

However, due to the fabricating controversy of MNET's Produce X 101, the members' individual companies were not able to reach an agreement and decided to just disband the group. This left a lot of fans heartbroken, surprised, and upset.

A few minutes after the disbandment news broke, ONE ITs have created different hashtags like #BeWithX1 #FightforX1, etc. which trended worldwide. Aside from that, they also conducted different protest events like LED trucks and media ads.

Even after days since X1's sudden disbandment, the fans never left and continued to fight for X1. In fact, global and local fans joined forces and recently launched an ad at COEX Crown Media which was shown for more than 100 times from January 17 to January 19, 2020.

On the darkest nights, the brightest stars shine 🌟

COEX Crown Media Ads is now up and running! Ads will be shown more than 100 times starting January 17 to January 19.

We are ONE IT and we want our voices to be heard! 🗣#X1 #엑스원 @x1official101pic.twitter.com/pQ72hBM9Iz

— X1(엑스원) GLOBAL (@x1global101) January 17, 2020

This protest was made so that the fans' voices be heard by CJ E&M, the media, and the members' agencies. ONE ITs are requesting for a new X1 - rebooting the group, it doesn't matter if they change their name and have a new agency. Not only that, they are also asking for a compensation for all the members for the damages that were done.

These recent happenings surely show how far the fans are willing to go for X1. It is truly tiring and devastating to experience such events but the fans continued to look toward their goal on protecting X1's wings and making sure they fly high.