Visual Live

Hi hi ... I guess it's all posted everywhere that HRH is the new CF model for viliv GPS Car Navigation System. Doesn't he look dashing in his tuxedo? Too bad I don't have a car now. Hehe, but do you think I can use it to navigate myself so I won't get lost anymore?

I looked up viliv website http://www.myviliv.com and it shows the 'brand personality'. Hehe check this out, seems like it is describing a fashion design house more than a digital technology company. However, most of these terms are befitting to our Yong Joon like 'refined', 'sentimental' and of course 'perfect' in my eyes. @@

I read that next he will do his filming of the TV portion of the CF abroad. Abroad?? I hope he will take it easy and slow. Afterall, he just got off his crutches, how come he's working so hard again?? New phone, new voice acting, new restaurants, and now this new CF! I hope he has the best of health and energy to handle all his new projects. So good to see him in a new capacity :)


reposted from baidu/心怀梦想

Nature's Wonder

Hi Hi sisters ....... I thought I had a soothing and relaxing weekend at an onsen (hot springs) in Hakone, blended harmoniously with nature. Only to come back and greeted by another nature's wonder - HRH! But in contrary to having a calming effect, my blood pressure is shot up to the ceiling by this natural beauty :)

Hehe, these are actually HRH's gorgeous pictures in his 'BYJ Classics - Scenes' CD sets (posted by byjfan/kaorin). I have received the 'Love Story' set (a surprise gift from a very dear sister, thanks so much) which consists of the CD and a small photo booklet. I'll be posting more later. Please enjoy!

It's all in his Voice

Hi Hi sisters … this is from Manager Yang’s regular update on Yong Joon, but this time it’s actually written by someone working with Yong Joon on his Japanese language. I just made a crude translation to English here :

Original from BYJgallery 2008/3/24
Translated to Korean by vento
Translated to Chinese by wonchun

Dear family, anneohaseyo!

This time I will be writing in place of Manager Yang on some ‘behind the scenes’ details during BYJ’s voice recording for his new mobile phone.

In 2008, I flew to Seoul with the business of recording BYJ’s voice for his new mobile phone. My objective is to work with Yong Joon ssi on his Japanese linguistics. In addition to more Japanese dialogue this time, there are some very difficult pronunciation and tonal emphasis in certain lines. I am so amazed that only after listening to the dialogue for a couple of times, BYJ can already perform up to standards. Those are not the common Japanese language that he knows already. For him to be able to grasp the essence, it makes me realize his superior attribute as an actor.

Since we cannot do the voice recording in the studio due to his injury, therefore the quality of the sound is not as desirable. Because BYJ wanted his family to feel the joy after listening to his voice, he endured his pain and worked very hard in this recording session. I hope everyone will consider and appreciate his hardworking attitude.

The season is changing, please take care of your health and do not get sick.

Oh btw, you know today is the official production announcement meeting of animation ‘Winter Love Song’ in the Tokyo International Animation Fair. I read that BYJ plans to make public a video message containing his thought on participating in this production as a voice actor. So we’ll know and see more about our favourite JunSang very soon! Have a great weekend :)

Secret of his Youth

We all exclaimed how young HRH looks in TWSSG, that he hasn't aged a bit since Barefooted Youth. In fact he looks even more radiant and confident than 10 years ago. Of course, this amazing quality is mostly attributed to his beautiful heart and sincere personality, but applying a little ‘tender loving care’ to his outer appearance on a regular basis doesn’t hurt either!

So, you want to see where HRH’s beauty is brewed? This is Jung Saem Mool Inspiration Salon, not exactly the ultra-modern luxurious spa that one would expect. The interior is bright, natural and warm, a good complement to our HRH’s character.


I find this artcle clip quite interesting, so I just do a very crude translation to English. This is what his make-up artist Ms. Chon Sen-Mur has to say :

BYJ is a very professional person, also very tender and manly. I think he has that quality to embrace other people. It is amazing that besides the face, he is beautiful from head to toes. Sometimes his skin condition is not as optimal due to his extremely harsh filming schedule, so he will come to this salon to do his skin care treatment. BYJ is a traditional Korean man. Psychologically he feels uneasy for a man to do skin care treatment, therefore he is not fond of heavy make up. The skin care and cosmetics brand that he uses is Korea’s Amore Pacific and Hera.


Also from JSM Salon, Yonsama’s hairstylist Ms. Hyon Jin (from his Winter Sonata days) said this :

BYJ has full luscious hair, so it’s much easier to work with than people who have thin hair. When I am styling his hair, he will give me suggestions like “Does it not complement with today’s occasion?” Basically he trusts my judgement and let me work on his hair. I am also an ordinary person and cannot always do things perfect. Then at this time his suggestions on hairstyle and color become very useful like “I don’t want to go with colors too bright”.

In case you are interested to know more about his salon and the skin care lines he uses, these are the websites :

http://www.jungsaemmool.com

http://www.amorepacific.com

picture from BYJGallery/style
reposted from baidu/wonchun

BYJ News

Hi hi sisters ...... Just saw this latest news of BYJ sightings on 3/25/2008 :

From www.lcktour.com administrator
Translated to Korean by miemi from byjgallery
Translated to Chinese by wonchun from baidu


Today BYJ arrived at the beauty salon at 13:40 and left around 15:20. He came with Mr. Shin of SP(?) and is still using crutches. He wore an Addidas hat (cap?), black top and brown sunglassess, so handsome!

He looks very healthy and waved at his family. There werec Korean family present and they asked, "are you preparing for your next drama?" He replied, "don't know yet".

Come Come Sakura

Hehe, just a quick one ... getting a bit excited as my sister is arriving tonight and visiting us for 3 weeks. Eventhough I don't miss home or feel lonely yet since I moved here (thanks to my dear Bae sisters :), but it still feels warm to see your family again. So, the apartment is sparkly clean (my poor muscles are aching), bedsheets smell fresh, the welcome rug is rolled out, next we will go to the airport and meet her.

Ok, it's not exactly like this, but we are still excited.

I have been putting away my plan of exploring all the sightseeing spots till now so I can accompany my sister. Can't wait to go to the Imperial Palace, Hakone and Kamakura (thanks my dear cloudnine)! My sister schedules her trip at this time because she really wants to see the famous cheery blossoms in Japan. So sakura, please come come ....

Winter Sonata encore!

Hi Hi .... So the good news is spread all over Bae world that Yong Joon will dub the voice of JunSang in the animation Winter Sonata (Fuyu no Sonata).



The details will be announced on March 28 from 5:30-6:00pm in the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008 held at Tokyo Big Site in Odaiba. I have been debating if I will go to the Anime Fair since next week is my son's Spring break. I guess now I have a very compelling reason to go :) BTW, in case you are interested, the Anime Fair is held from March 27 to 30, website http://www.tokyoanime.jp/ . Oopsies ..... cloudnine just corrected me that only Mar 29, 30 are open for public. Hahaha, I guess now I know why I can't make it as a news reporter :) Thanks cloudnine!

Understand that this is a joint production between KeyEast and Japan Total Promotion. KeyEast is involved in the financing and production of this animated drama. This is such a precious gift from our Yong Joon knowing how much we cherish his voice. Hehe, wonder how the animated JunSang will look like? Will he be cute? Will he look cool? How is HRH's sultry voice gonna fit into an animated image?? I just can't wait to find out, bet this one will be another classic for us. Our prince is always thinking of ways to return our deep love for him, now this is the best one so far! Hehe, at least for Winter Sonata fanatics like me :)

Fairy I - Purity

Remember when you were a little girl and mommy used to cuddle you up singing a lullaby or saying a fairy tale before you dosed off in dreamland, huh? Our little minds were overflowing with princess, fairy godmother, beauty and magic. Interesting that regardless of which corner of the world we are at, we somehow listened to the same tales like Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Fairy tale has indeed become such a precious part of our growing up, hasn’t it?





As time passes, practicality and hardships in life has engaged our minds. We no longer have time for dreams and fantasies as we are too busy fulfilling our material needs and social obligations. A lot of our sisters feel we have re-discovered our lost innocence and dreams when we found Bae Yong Joon. I’d like to attempt exploring his phenomenon from a fantasy perspective ......





Originated in mythology, fairy (or faerie) denotes a state of enchantment or glamour, the power of illusion, the power of ‘beings’ who bring blessings. In the lands of Brittany, Iceland and Scandinavia where natural beauty is still largely unspoiled, beliefs in fairy legends remain passionate. The existence of fairy is said to permeate a fourth dimension, freeing it from the confinement of time and space bound by material laws. In union with Animism - a belief that flowers, trees, lakes, mountains and crystals are endowed with spirit, words have ‘whispered’ out that fairy sightings transpire amidst these vicinities where concentration of natural energy is eminent.





Fairy is celebrated for its captivating beauty, joy and inspiration, humour and mischief. It embraces reality with an illusory sheer, recreating a fantasy realm for both human and itself to cohabit in. If we care to pause and employ our senses, be it admiring a morning dew dripping from a flower petal, breathing in a gentle fragrant breeze across a lavender field or catching a whisper of light in the garden during sunset. We will be enchanted by the delicacy and mystique of fairies - like a ripple of water, a wisp of wind or simply an unbroken silence. Fairy educes our innate wisdom and innocence to resonate our spirits with nature.





It is my desire to coalesce the purity of Yong Joon with the innocence and beauty in the world of fairies. Our prince charming emanates quality of innocence that exudes his youthfulness, purity that breeds his nobility and sincerity that radiates his beauty. Let him be the window for us to peer into the magical realm of dreams and fantasies once again.


References :
1. A Complete Guide to Faeries & Magical Beings, Cassandra Eason, Judy Piatkus (Publishers) Ltd., 2001
2. Faeries, Brian Froud and Alan Lee, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, New York, 1978
3. The Book of Faeries, Francis Melville, Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., 2002
4. The Little People - Stories of Fairies, Pixies, and other Small Folk, Neil Philip, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2002
5. The World of Fairies, Gossamer Penwyche, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc, New York, 2001

Acknowledgement :
1. Thanks to my dear sweet jillie for uploading the music.
2. Some pictures are used from the artworks created by Korachan and Amadienne. Please allow me to thank you here.

Next ...... Fairy II - Art

Don't faint, huh?

Hehe, thirst quenching time here ....

I love this pair eyeglasses, where can I get it? Doesn't look like Megane Ichiba. Well of course, I love love love the man who's wearing it too :)

Now, what is he trying to do to us? Drown us with that killer smile again!

But excuse me , Yong Joon. Do I detect a little (in fact not THAT little) tummy over there? You care to open a few more buttons on that shirt and prove me wrong?

All these new images are posted by byjfan/kaorin and byjgallery/miemi, I repost them from baidu/蓝宝石别墅. Thanks sisters for sharing.

Photographic Art - Cyanotype

Dear sisters .... I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I am continuing to collect my old art posts back in my blog. This one was published back in Feb 2007, hope you enjoy ....

After completing Part 1 of my photographic art series on an antique botanical journal, my curiosity was aroused on other works by this relatively unknown photographer. To my pleasant surprise, her next published book on ‘cyanotype’* does not disappoint.

Intrigued by this antiquated art of photographic printing, photographer Zeva Oelbaum ushered us into a world of rich, infinite variation of blues, dressing up her images as contemporary art forms.








I have always been enchanted by the serene beauty of the blue spectrum, educed from the deepest mysterious midnight sky to the lightest translucent fluidity of flowing creek. From velvety rich indigo blue and refreshing tropical aqua blue to luxurious shimmer of silvery blue, these elegant shades emanate emotions of tenderness, melancholy, solitude, sensuality and even seduction.








Through this exquisite colour of soul, all superfluous details are liberated leaving only the intrinsic silhouette, rewarding us with the essence of the image. We are at liberty to interpret the interactions of their forms - as a pattern, a movement or life itself.








Being a photography enthusiast and a former student of Film Studies in Sung Kyun Kwan University, our prince can indeed recognize the art and science of cyanotype and the special place it holds in the history of photography.

This 1970s classic instrumental piece ‘Samba Pa Ti’** by the legendary Carlos Santana embraced me into the sentimental fantasy world of our prince Yong Joon. What a pleasure to explore every facet of his majestic physique and sensual move! It is such a fulfillment to coalesce that modernism and mystic sentiment with his heavenly silhouette. My admiration and love for this extraordinary human being has deepened once again through this creative progression. I love to share my infinite passion towards Yong Joon with you, hope you enjoy our sensual prince in cyanotype.








Note :

* Cyanotype is an old monochrome photographic printing process. The chemical formula was invented by British astronomer Sir John Herschel in 1842 (3 years after the invention of photography) to provide an efficient method to duplicate large scale engineering charts and calculations. The resulting print is of cyan-blue background with a white outline of the image known as blue print.

** ‘Samba Pa Ti’ by Carlos Santana


References :

1. Flowers in Shadow - A Photographer Rediscovers a Victorian Botanical Journal, Zeva Oelbaum, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. 2002
2. Blue Prints - The Natural World in Cyanotype Photographs, Zeva Oelbaum, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. 2002

Classic Baety

Sometimes I feel it's kind of inappropriate to use 'beautiful' on a man, especially a strong, determined and serious man like HRH. But but ..... just look at him, what elz can we use, perhaps simply 'baetiful'??



You know that you can pre-order these CDs on amazon.co.jp or hmv.co.jp now, right? They will be released on March 31 and the price of each CD is 2800 yen.

New Picture, new phone

Remember that BYJ Phone? This comes from byjgallery/hyejun, she reposted this Brokore news with HRH's newest picture. @@


Now my Nihongo is still limited to ordering (or should I say pointing) in restaurant. Just today, I ventured out to actually mailing packages in the Post Office, using my very few postal vocabularies. So, to those sisters who are supposed to receive stuffs from me : if you don't get your package in a month, that means it is probably still circling somewhere in Istanbul, sumimasen :)


Well, I tried to pull my son over to read the characters to me one by one, hoping I can at least make some sense out of the news. BUT after reading just "Ba e Yo ng Jo on mo bi le .....", the kid protested that he is too tired and ran away! So guessing from the Kanji, I think the news talks about the phone will be available in late March. It is made by Toshiba and the model is 'fanfun Softbank 815T'. Hehe, I'd better be more patient and wait for some kind sisters to translate for us :)

Photographic Art - Antiquity

Dear sisters ..... It's soooooo quiet in Bae world and we are all missing him sooooo much. I think it's perfect time to start working on my next art series. For my own documentation, I'd like to repost my old art series for now. This photographic series was done back in Dec 2006 ......

I’m recently studying some antique botanical prints and am deeply enchanted by their elegance and simplicity that I love to share them with you. Why? Haha, because every beautiful scenery and exquisite detail that I encounter in life now reminds me of our irresistibly attractive Yong Joon. Hope you’ll like the artworks!




Still-life photographer Zeva Oelbaum discovered a Victorian herbarium (botanical journal) in a tiny seaside antiques shop along the coast of New England. The only trace to its artistic creator’s origin is an inscription ‘May 18, 1896, Randolph, VT’ in graceful penmanship. This century old treasure has yellowed rippled parchment paper tied with fraying white satin ribbon. Through the delicate hands of a young woman over a century ago, the fragile botanicals were diligently arranged with strings of linen in an artful and whimsical composition. Time has worked wonders too, the pressed botanical has created shadow impression of itself reflecting on the adjoining page. The journal was a means of creative fulfillment, letting this young lady to escape into the beauty of flowers in her peaceful surroundings.








A century later, through a photographer’s refined lenses, the aesthetic quality of these botanicals comes alive again. Using natural light and shadow as matrix, the subtle textures of the petals, leaves and parchment shine through the prints. It is her intent to resonate the subtle beauty of this antique journal by layering it with a contemporary artistic sheer.





Maybe it’s that light touch of nostalgia lingering in the air, that mystical sensation from a bygone era or the mere thought of an artist’s creativity narrowly forgotten and rediscovered. I am fascinated by the sheer endurance of these delicate petals and fragile roots, withstanding the passage of time. The strong desire to mirror this vitality to our Yong Joon’s duality of strength and refinement overcomes me. This heavenly-handsome prince drifts into our lives and our hearts effortlessly with his sincere and noble magnetism, writing an elegant chapter into Asian cultural history that seems to be a dream, yet so real. The world has witnessed his pivotal role as the Ambassador of the Hallyu movement and his idealism to unify and strengthen Asian art cultures. 100 years from now, how will his talents and grace be remembered in history? Will the beautiful memory of Bae Yong Joon be preserved and appreciated like this Victorian herbarium? Time will be the best judge of his position and triumph in history. One thing I am certain of, he’ll be in his loving family’s hearts, minds and spirits well beyond the end of time …….














References :
1. Flowers in Shadow - A Photographer Rediscovers a Victorian Botanical Journal, Zeva Oelbaum, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. 2002
2. Blue Prints - The Natural World in Cyanotype Photographs, Zeva Oelbaum, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. 2002