Mystic Pop-Up Bar (Youtube playlist)

 I've been breezing through many dramas over weekends, thanks to Netflix. 

Skechers offer at OG

Chanced upon this National Day offer, and was able to buy two pairs for $110, when the usual price was $109 each. I already had enough shoes, so we decided to buy both pairs for YX. Pictured here are her pairs at size 6.  

미스터 션샤인 Mr. Sunshine OST

As promised on my earlier post on Mr Sunshine, I managed to find the video links for the OST. 

Parking the OST video playlist here, originals from Stone Entertainment. 

 

#1. 박효신 (Park Hyo Shin) - 그 날 (The Day) MV

Drama - Mr. Sunshine (Korean: 미스터 션샤인)

I just finished binge-watching "Mr Sunshine". It has been on my watchlist since it was first broadcast in 2018, but I could not find any sites to watch it free AND with subtitles. 

So when we decided to cancel our Starhub TV subscription (contract was up and we hardly sat down in the living room to watch anything, anyway), my hubby decided to subscribe to Netflix. I took the opportunity to watch those titles that I couldnt watch on VIU or other free platforms. 

I had watched Yoo Yeon Seok's works on "Mood of the Day" (movie) and "Youth over Flowers"(travel variety) & "Coffee Friends" (variety on cafe on Jeju Island), after suffering from the 'Chilbongie' syndrome from watching him in Reply 1994. But I hadn't seen Lee Byung-Hun and Kim Tae Ri in anything else. My interest was piqued as there were frequent instances in "Coffee Friends" when the cafe customers spoke to YYS about liking his role in Mr Sunshine. 

When I watched the initial episodes, I was blown away by the beautiful cinematography. It was something best enjoyed on a large screen, not on my pathetic mobile phone screen. The first quarter of the drama was pretty draggy and full of slow-mo scenes. I started questioning myself about whether I wanted to watch another Kim Eun-sook (KES) drama. Speaking of which, I really should pen down my thoughts on her works. That will be another post. What pulled me into watching the first few episodes were the scenes of the actor Kim Kang-hoon portraying young "Yu-Jin", who was the same child actor who starred in "When the Camellia Blooms". 

I am not adept enough in writing to be reviewingthe drama but I will just share my thoughts. Having watched KES' previous popular dramas like "Descendants of the Sun" and "Goblin", I would say that "Mr Sunshine" struck me as somewhat with deeper substance than the former two titles. It required audiences to think more about the plot and character analysis than just following for the romance of the 'One-True Pairing' (OTP). Being a drama set in the early 1900s, and about Joseon and the influences of Japan and America, I was totally lost in the history aspect. Notwithstanding the historical background setting, I enjoyed some of the witty dialogue that KES is known for writing, although some of it is likely to be lost in translation(on Netflix). I will probably have to re-watch the drama in parallel with some review sites (like dramabeans) to re-relish this aspect of KES' work. 

Strong females

One thing that was striking in comparison is that KES had managed to impress with the writing of several strong female characters in Mr Sunshine. Going beyond lead Ae-Shin, I also enjoyed the multi-layered character brought out by Kim Min-jong (portraying Kudo Hina) and the other supporting actresses like Lee Jung-eun (as Ae-shin's maid and mother figure) and other badass mothers(of Ae-shin, Dong-mae and Eugene), sacrificing their all. Looking back at "The Heirs" and "Goblin", which seemed to pay more(or sole) attention to the male lead, it must really be true that the writer likes to tailor her script for a particular actor in her past works. 

Pacing

The writing is not as tight as some other historical dramas I've watched (Six Flying Dragons and Tree with Deep Roots remain favourites in this aspect) and towards the end, I felt like there were some loose ends that were not tied up and wished that the plot hadn't been so draggy in the first half. Of course, that resulted in major heartache when our ensemble of patriots fell to the enemies in the last few episodes.

The Bromance

I loved the bromance, not just between the trio Eugene-DongMae-HuiSeong, but also between Eugene and the English translator Gwan-soo, Eugene-Kyle, Eugene- Domi. The comedic elements also served to lighten the heavy historical (and often violent & bloody) aspects of each episode. 

The OST by Stone Music Entertainment

I have not looked at the translation of the lyrics of the OST songs, but while I enjoyed the music and songs, it is not outstanding. Certain songs are able to convey the sentiment (to a foreigner like myself who does not understand most of the lyrics). I loved the instrumentals though.

박효신 (Park Hyo Shin) - 그 날 (The Day)

Video link

I will look them up on Youtube/Spotify when I have time. 

Stay Home for Circuit Breaker 2020

So many resources had been shared online, for keeping the young ones entertained, educated(!?!) and occupied, and to fight off boredom for the seniors (and everyone else in-between!!!!)

Just compiling my own list here. Leave me a comment below if there are links that don't work, cos I don't visit all of them... You know, in between cooking almost 3 meals a day, marketing and household chores, screaming at the kid, trying to catch up on some of my work, and keeping myself sane with Korean shows... Heehee

General 

Read/Listen

• Even before the Covid-19 situation hit, I have been a fan of the collection of e-books offered by the National Library Board, Singapore eResources platform. Just sign up for your 'myLibrary' account (if you are Singaporean or a NLB member), and you are set to read on a browser, or using the NLB mobile app, or download to read offline using the Overdrive or Libby app. See what you need here. 
• Amazon Audible has made Stories free available online for kids, as long as schools are closed.

Teaching and Learning Resources

• As part of a global initiative to support parents and educators through these times, Scholastic has been providing free access to digital resources which are developmentally-appropriate for children aged 4 to 15 years. 
• Cambridge University Press has also stepped up to provide educators with resources to support the teaching and learning during the school closure period. 

Nature

• Part of the #PlantOneOnMe series by the Gardens By the Bay, Singapore. This is a multi-episode series on tours in the Cloud Forest conservatory. We will be eagerly waiting for the day when they will be open again and we can actually use our membership...

The Arts 

• #GalleryAnywhere gives you a daily dose of art from the comfort of your home. Presented by the National Gallery, Singapore.
• The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. features two online exhibits through Google Arts & Culture. One features watercolour renderings on American fashion from the Index of American Design; whereas another is on Dutch masters of genre painting, or scenes of daily life. 
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Performing Arts

• Esplanade Offstage is provided for all to enjoy performing arts in Singapore and Asia. You can easily filter by your preferred form of performing arts, and enjoy one-stop page of links to their partners. Besides reading about artists, Offstage has also listed videos for us to enjoy the performances online via "The show goes on---line" since the national performing art's centre is closed.
• Of course, not forgetting the weekly full-length broadcasts of famed musicals via the Youtube page The Shows Must Go On!. We enjoyed The Phantom of the Opera and Cats.
• BroadwayHD is a subscription-based internet service that lets you watch musicals without getting to Broadway itself. It offers a free 7-day trial, so plan when there's a long weekend/holiday stretch coming up. 

Music 

Facebook live broadcasts are one of the ways musicians used to continue to showcase their craft.

• Compilations include the facebook pages 古典好好聽 Classicalmusic to go.

History

• This "Museum of the World" virtual museum tour of artifacts brought by the British Museum and the Google Cultural institute allows us to pick and choose the time period and cultural setting we want. 

Christianity-Methodist

• Even as The Methodist Church in Singapore celebrates 135 years in Singapore this year, we are constrained by the ongoing Covid-19 situation to stay at home as much as possible. But that doesn't stop us from continuing to come together to pray and worship online as a community. I signed up to receive whatsapp updates to receive the daily prayer prompt on whatsapp. 

Entertainment

Of course, it has been almost impossible to get Y to guai guai complete the never-ending list of chores (cos she doesn't complete them) and assignments set. All she hankers for is for her own game apps and the Xiaomi phone we bought last year. We have been considering whether to get on the Netflix bandwagon after our Starhub contract ran out and we decided not to continue (we hardly sat down to watch anything at all, since we all had our own choices of entertainment on our phone/tablet/laptop/desktop anyway). So I started looking out to see if the Netflix offerings were suitable. Some links/lists here for those who already have a subscription include: 

• List of Netflix Educational shows for Kids from variety.com.

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This post was first published on 20 May 2020.