Walking on the cloud

Thank you thank you my dear sisters for writing back to me. For someone who's away from home, your words are as warm as a down-filled blanket in a wintry night (or for princess bb, chinggu and sisters who are bathing in sweats now, like an air conditioner in sweltering heat, ok?) Well, eventhough I can't exactly complain that I feel lonely at all when you are surrounded by 12 million people (believe me, you Do feel it's like 12 million!) and I have been running around, meeting and talking non-stop to different people since I have arrived.


Well, I guess it's not really a secret anymore. Yes, I am on a mission here in Japan. Spying on national secrets? Hahaha no, not that kind of mission. My life is not that adventurous and exciting, my dear. My family will be moving to this beautiful country for a few years and I am on a mission here to check out the schools for my son. My hubby's company has assigned some people to escort my son and me around Tokyo and also act as my interpretor, haha, sort of like a 'Tokyo 101 for dummies like me'. For the past 2 days, this pretty, stylish young lady who speaks perfect English has been so patiently entertaining our curiosity.


For a start, I notice unless I have my chiropractor or massage therapist standing by every night when I get home, I'd better switch my high heels to orthopedic shoes. Tokyo is a city for 'walking', I mean hurried, long and endless walk. For an inactive Torontonian like me, walking usually means 10 steps from the car to any front door. Just yesterday, we flagged down a taxi because my 2 feet and 10 toes refused to co-operate anymore. I was about to relax in a long comfortable ride to my next destination. The traffic was moving slowly but it was not jammed, I noticed the taxi driver was talking to my guide and then she turned around and asked if I'd like to save time by taking the subway instead. Without even thinking for a single second, my feet took over my brain and I heard myself saying, "let's stay in the taxi". Are you kidding me, even 4 horses couldn't pull me away from my seat! But this taxi 'ajussi' was very persistent, he pointed to his GPS and gently explained to my guide again that it would be wise to take the direct subway. At thattime, my pain turned into laughter when I think how honest Japanese are. A cabbie in Manhatten would jump at this chance and happily let his taxi meter clicking away. I didn't want to insist anymore and put my guide in a difficult position, so I agreed to be let off at the nearest subway entrance despite my feet's protest that they will permanently detach from me.


There are so many interesting experience that I'd like to share with you. This afternoon I am so looking forward to meeting our ever-so considerate, kind and hospitable Japanese sister cloudnine again who's so caring and always try to see how she can help me. We had a nice, long chat over the telephone on (who else?) HRH a couple of nights ago. Ha, and then after that, I turned on the TV and voila, there was a Japanese special on TWSSG! The 2 male hosts were sitting with the background of Gosireh interior, showing charts of relationship between Damdeok, Kiha and Sujini. I guess there will be more and more promotional clips on TWSSG as it will be aired on NHK starting Dec 3 at 10 pm. Now I don't know if it will be daily, weekly or wonder if I can catch some of it when I return in January.


Sorry sister, have to go, no laptop for me during the day. Please take care, ok? Love you all.

OhaiyooGozaimasu

Hi Hi sisters ....... Hello from Tokyo! Much like my Kyrgyzstan's adventure, I have finally arrived in the the Land of the Rising Sun - Japan (except this time it's not a fictitious story anymore). Must be my luck with travelling, major international disasters, severe weather and long delays seem to time themselves around this infrequent traveller. The first major snowfall of this winter just happened the night before I flew. I normally welcome this 'choum' snow, thinking fondly of our gorgeous MinHyung strolling on the street of Seoul lifting his hand gently to feel the snowflakes. I guess to make sure I got to the airport on time and in 1 piece, the airport limousine company sent out a super stretch limo for my comfort! Wow, remember that's what I was expecting in Kyrgyzstan, instead I got a yak!

My son grabbed the side seat (as if anybody is competing with him?) and found it most interesting to stare at the bar (hopefully not at the alcohol) while I settled myself comfortably in the seat where the handsome Frank Shin met JinYoung hitching a ride in the hot desert of Las Vegas. Haha, am I too pathetic to link everything I do to a scene in HRH's drama? What's next, raise a few pets in my backyard like a blue dragon, a white tiger, a red phoenix and a turtle snake?? :)

Wow, it's off to a great start, but I guess the payback time came next. As if the airline people haven't looked outside the window the whole day, after we have all boarded and settled ourselves snuggly for this dreaded 13 hours-long flight, they announced that they had to prepare the aircraft's computer and engine for the weather and the wings had to be de-iced, so we were forced to breathe 3 more hours of recycled oxygen. Haha luckily we were very well prepared, my son and I were ready with our portable DVD player fully charged and our precious TWSSG DVDs, we began our happy flight :)

Boy, we must have watched for a long time. By the time I woke up, I looked up at he monitor on the plane. WHAT?! Why were they showing a map of Siberia, what documentary was this? I rubbed my eyes and looked again. No, that was an aircraft on the map over the Arctic Ocean heading towards Siberia?? Am I in an 'Indiana Jones' movie or what, did someone just hijacked the plane to Siberia?? No no no, it dawned on me that it is the route of this direct fight - over Alaska crossing the Arctic Ocean, headed into Siberia and towards Japan! The world is round, not flat; Siberia is actually directly north of Sapporo, Japan. Gee, I should really brushed up on my world geography.

We were overjoyed to see my hubby, and my son's daddy of course. It seemed like we had been apart for sooooo long. No matter how much I adore BYJ (and RSW hehe), there is just no one in the world who can replace your family and your love. Back in the hotel, mu hubby handed me a package and said smilingly, "I think you'll like this". I received it with a very questionable look but I know he wanted to show his appreciation for me handling the household matters while he's away. I opened up expecting it to be another art book, but voila, look what I've got!

Yes, this is Dong Gam - the music CD that BYJ graced the cover :

The side of the Dong Gam box with other Korean hunks :

I love this picture on the address book :

Another look at the box :

Yes, I know this is way back in 2005/6 but I am surprised that hubby even remembers BYJ's face and got this for me. Of course I do not expect him to know the latest and greatest of my idol's work and which one I don't have yet. Why, haha, because since I am in pseudo-Baeland myself, I can very well accomplish that task of filling up what is missing in my BYJ cabinet :) Oh, I love Japan!

Please take care, my dearest sisters. I will try to write soon. I love and miss you all very much :)

In Search of the King - I

Hi dear sisters .... I know we are all still worrying sick about our prince. Not to downplay the seriousness of the situation, but I want to lighten up our mood a little bit. I apologize I have been soooo busy for the past many weeks, I have no time to sit down to think of a funny story. Hope this old one can bring a smile to your face.

Published 11/09/2006



As soon as I read that Yong Joon might be shooting in Kyrgyzstan, without wasting a single milli-second, I make a world record 10-meter dash to my closest phone and book myself the next flight out :

* My travel agent’s first response is, “Huh, Ky what?”

** I raise my volume and repeat patiently, “KY-R-GYZ-STAN!”

* She gets a bit annoyed, “Yeah yeah, I hear you, I’m not deaf, you know! Now, what is it? a city? a country? or a PLANET??”
(Normally I would have given her a lecture on “Told you to study the maps more often instead of wasting your time daydreaming about those hunky Korean actors, of course, unless if it’s wuri Yong Joon!”)

** But I bite my tongue this time, “Very funny, lady! Now, are you ready to book that ticket for me or do I have to wait until the NEXT CENTURY to go?”

* For someone who hates my guts, she sounds a bit concerned, “Are you sure you can handle this trip? After all, this ain’t exactly sipping high tea at the Ritz in London or savouring palace cuisine at Gosireh with Yonsama, you know?”

** I confidently dismiss her, “Don’t you worry, if I could manoeuvre my way inside the maze of winding laneways and smelly canals in Piazza San Marco of Venice, survived weaving in and out of rush-hour cabbies in downtown Manhattan AND emerged with my arms and legs intact out of a Tokyo Subway train after being packed like a sardine, this lady can handle anything!”

So my trip is set and off to Kyrgyzstan I go to search for wuri King Charming! (Does my obnoxious travel agent know something I don’t know??)

In Search of the King - II

Continue from Part I .......

After 36 hours of being thrown up and down and around (like a chopped-up lettuce being tossed in a salad bowl) in a cramped junkyard-worthy propeller plane, I finally land at Manas Airport in the Capital City Bishkek. My top priority is, NOT to look for my King yet, but to untangle all my TWISTED internal organs back to their rightful positions. I comfort myself that in a few minutes, I can stretch out in my ultra-luxury limo, sipping champagne and switch on CNN/TSN/MSN or whatever ‘N’ for some news from modern civilization. Little do I know what is installed ahead of me…….

I am greeted by this tiny old man with white moustache wearing a beautifully-embroidered costume and a flowerpot(?) upside-down on his head, coming right out of a fairytale. He introduces himself as my tour ambassador, speaking with a funny accent at a super fast pace.

** I show him a picture of my handsome King, attempting to confirm, “To Bae Yong Joon, OK?”

* He keeps nodding his head and repeats after me, “Ahhhh! Bae Yong Joon, vvver-ly famous, vvver-ly handsome!”



He then brings out a humongous horn and blows (with all his might, and his saliva too!) right to my face, it screeches so loud that my 2 ears and 1 nose almost fall off. Then I hear the deafening sound of roaring distant train and the whole floor starts to tremble. Before I can figure out what level on Richter Scale this earthquake measures, I see a fleet of ‘half-buffalo, half-rhino’ type of beasts stomping at my directions as he signals them to charge towards me! When those ‘beasts’ brake right in front of me, my eyes are as wide as ping-pong balls but I dare not make any sudden movement or sound to agitate them.



** I open my mouth gently and ask him, “Excuse me sir, what’re these?”

* He replies proudly, “Madam, your limo has arrived!”

** I am in disbelief, I explain, “No no no, there must be some mistakes. You see, I am expecting an automobile with 4 wheels, white and long with tinted windows, air conditioning and a mini bar, soft comfy seats with soothing music, maybe even a high-definition TV! I don’t see these guys resembling anything close to THAT!”

* The man continues to smile contentedly and repeats, “Madam, this is our ‘limo’ for visitors to Kyrgyzstan. These yaks are the most honoured animals here and can carry you anywhere to see anyone you want.”

** I murmur to myself, “I thought Reindeer can take you anywhere to see anyone you want, I don’t remember seeing these YAK-KY things flying over my chimney on Christmas Eve??”



* He ignores me and continues, “So madam, which model will ya be taking today : deluxe or economy? You do have your choice of a single or double humps.”

** I stare at him and respond with my ‘very-little-left’ strength, “Enlighten me sir, what’s the BIG difference between a single or double humps??”

* Now the man gets very enthusiastic and explains in his funny accent, “Oh, bbbiggg difference! U see, you can choose the ‘economy single-hump 2-seater’ OR pay premium for our ‘deluxe 2-humps private seat’ which you’ll have the exclusive comfort of front and back support.”

** I am totally baffled, “What?! How on earth can you put 2 people on a single hump yak?”

* “Well, vvver-ly easy. The FRONT guy just have to lean BACK a little while the BACK guy has to lean FORWARD a bit, then everybody is happy!”

** Now I am ‘certified’ confused. I roll up my eyes and give up, “I can’t believe this is happening to me. OK, I’ll take the 2 humps. All to myself and no leaning, right?”



* “Fine choice madam, fine choice. Since you’ve been so patient, I’ll throw in a bonus for you at no extra charge. If you are thirsty, you can squeeze at the yak’s bottom like turning a tap and have instant hot yak’s milk right to your mouth. If you feel cold at night, you just burn the dried-up yak’s dung to keep yourself warm and toasty!”

** NOW I totally feel like throwing UP all my meals from the past month! I exclaim, “You’ve got to be joking! You don’t mean I have to touch this yak-ky thing’s bottom and scoop up its dung! Not in a million years!” I shake my head and just hand him my credit card.



* He refuses, “sorry Madam, we don’t take this! Do you have anything valuable with you?”

** My patience has almost run out, “Well, everything that I brought is valuable. Let me see - I have my Cartier watch, Hermes scarf, Gucci bag, Chanel coat, Dolce and Gabbana dress and Manolo Blahnik stilettos. Which one do you want?”

* He frowns, “Madam, in this part of the world, these impractical material things are of no use to us. We are very basic and simple people, we need things that we can put into our mouths! Do you have anything like that?”

** I try to think hard, “Well, I don’t have any food, the closest thing that I can think of that touches my mouth is my lipstick.”

* He appears interested, “Is lipstick edible?”

** I ponder, “Ummm ….. I started putting lipstick on since I was 18, by now I must have swallowed over 100 lipsticks into my tummy and I’m still living?! My stomach may have shades of sunset rose, sweetheart pink, princess coral and forget-me-not mauve ….., but I haven’t died yet!”

* He is convinced, “Ok, I’ll take the lipstick.”

** I am relieved and can’t wait to leave, “Thank you sir, thank you!”

So I wave ‘au revoir’ to Mr. Upside-down-flowerpot and head straight for the mysterious Issyk-Kul Lake/Jewel of Central Asia/Blue Pearl of Tien-Shan to search for wuri King Charming.

In Search of the King - III

Continue from Part II ....

Now that we have to spend the next 10 hours cruising together, I decide to get acquainted with my yak-ky thing – under those sharp curved horns, actually lies a gentle face with droopy eyes. Its thick brown hair extends all the way to the ground just like a long fringe skirt, perfect for sweeping fallen autumn leaves in my garden. Haha, if it behaves, maybe I’ll consider adopting it home! The problem is it seems that any sorts of flying insects and creepy-crawlies that possess more than 2 legs are invited to converge on Mr. Flea-bag for a party. I start flapping its bushy pom-pom tail like a flyswat and viola, it’s working like a charm!



My heart is blooming like spring flowers as I admire the serene natural beauty of the snow-capped mountains thinking about Yong Joon’s princely appearance. Yakky and I are wandering in the wilderness aimlessly with no other human beings in sight. The scorching sun and the swaying motion are making me sleepy. I don’t know what kind of Navigation System yakky has registered itself with (maybe the REINDEER channel?), it sure doesn’t seem to be taking me anywhere near our King. By nightfall, total darkness descends and howling winds add to the eeriness as I am getting cold and frightened. Should I even entertain Mr. Upside-down-flowerpot’s suggestion of burning yakky’s dung to keep myself warm?? “No no no no NO! …….. burning scented candle is one thing, burning yak dung’s totally something else! There’s got to be a better way out than resorting to this!”



I start to think about the warm sunny smile and big strong arms of Yong Joon, and my heart is filled with hope and strength. Suddenly from afar, I vaguely hear the soothing sound of gentle waves and spot glimpses of burning lights. Can this be where our smiling Yong Joon is? My heart starts racing as blood (and hope) rushes back to my heart and every body parts. This is it, you made it, yakky! Oh, I’d better make myself look decent and smell pretty when I see the gorgeous King. I start scrambling for my favourite perfume and sprinkle all over myself. Oh my gosh! My yak-ky smells like it hasn’t taken a bath for 10 years! Well, I figure while I am at it, I might as well sprinkle my precious Eau de Parfum on yakky from its head to tail. We Bae sisters (well, Bae yaks too) share, right? All of a sudden, yakky emits a loud grunt and before I know what happens, I am thrown up in mid air! I let out a loud shriek and land flat on the ground, still clutching to Yong Joon’s gorgeous picture …….



When I regain consciousness, I hear the sweetest language ringing into my ears - Korean! I moan to myself, “I’ve arrived, I’ve finally arrived!” I ask these familiar looking Korean faces where I can see the sweet handsome Yong Joon. They reply, “Well, where else? Korea! You didn’t read the news? Yong Joon-ssi worries too much about the safety of his family and decides not to shoot in Kyrgyzstan after all! All his family has turned back and gone to Jejudo now. Ahhhh ….. you’re from that Siberian no man’s land in Canada, To-Ron-To, right? Maybe your travel agent didn’t warn you??” ..…. Dear sisters, I’d better stop here as you don’t want to know what state of hysteria I am in after this ……..

The End!

Disclaimer : This story is entirely fictitious and I do not mean any disrespect for the good-natured Kyrgyz or gentle yaks (for that matter). I am further instructed by the Kyrgyzstan government that I am never to be within 30 feet of a yak in fear of me causing any more trauma to this tame and sweet species.

Cuddlelicious Damdeok - 7

Baeha, we should have an off-site meeting one day.

These indoor meetings are not very productive.

Wow, this is perfect! What is it? Why don't we buy it, Baeha?
It's a GAZEBO! This beauty is made up of 16-columns steel construction, can withstand wind up to 100 miles per hour. Its double-facing silk drapes can filter out UVA, UVB rays and keep your skin feeling moist and smooth......

Guys, we have no budget for extravagance like this, let's go!

Baeha, my bum is glued to this chair and I am NOT leaving!

Gosh! These guys are driving me nuts!!

Baeha, imagine? You can bring girls here to impress them.

Mmmmmmmmmm...................
You have a point, Deal!

OMG! He's injured again!

Oh my gosh! I have been so busy these few days and didn't even have time to check on our beloved man. My dear sister Heippieh just emailed me that our prince got seriously injured again! My heart literally dropped to the floor and a chill went down my spine, seriously hurt?! How much more pain did he suffer? How much more shock can we fans take??

From Joanne's EDaily translation in Quilt, this time it's no joking matter. His spinal nerve is damaged and he should undergo a surgery. But our prince even continued filming and didn't want the crew and cast to worry. I love TWSSG and he is magnificent in it, but I rather not watch the drama if it is at the expense of him working so hard and getting injured! I say, my dear prince, forget about the drama! forget about the deadline! So what if they stop broadcasting the drama until you are ready and well? We are not going to hurt if we don't watch the drama every week, but we are going to hurt so much if we know you are in pain. When we know you are suffering and anything bad happens to you, we will all be crying and our hearts are bleeding. So please Yong Joon, I beg you, I pray that you will for once think about yourself before other people and take care of yourself. Please please please stop filming and rest in the hospital. We all love you so much and so wish we can take some of your pain away from you.

I am sorry that I get emotional, but like other sisters, I am really worried about him :(

2 eyes, 1 nose, 1 mouth .....

I am going through my picture folder and notice a very interesting picture. This was during the Image Vol I exhibition in Seoul. Hehe, there are 5 men here all with 2 eyes, 1 nose and 1 mouth, (haha, please don't call me mean), but how the heck can someone (and you know who) be so outstandingly much much much much more handome than the others??


But then again, this is the same question that has been bothering me always : how can billions of people in the world manage to look all different with just 2 eyes, 1 nose, 1 mouth and eyeglasses? Hehe, enough nonsense from me. Now, please sit back and enjoy our HRH :





Different topic :
Remember this picture that bb posted a long time ago? Every morning when Yong Joon came out of the hotel heading for the filming site in Jeju, this was the side exit he used - bb said they called it the 'Royal Path'. We all loved how hearty our King laughed with the tall young man behind him.

At the time, we thought since he also has such a bright smile, he was Yong Joon's stunt double. Now when Chongryong (green dragon) was revealed to be a tall good- looking young man, you think this young man behind Yong Joon is actually Chongryong?

His real name is Philip Lee. Like E Ji Ah, he studied in the States and graduated from George Washington University 3 years ago. He is born in 1981 and is standing at 1.88 m, quite tall, eh?

TWSSG Japan Calendar

Wowowow! Hi sisters .... please don't say I didn't warn you again, these are the breathtakingly handsome pcitures of Damdeok. He was still in his princely stage - fresh, carefree and worryfree before the tragedies of his father and Kiha struck. Please enjoy (I don't think this is the official one from BOF or IMX though):















original from cafe.daum.net/byjfan by kaorin
reposted in baidu by wlbyj