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If you've heard of a music survival show I-LAND then you've probably aware of the boy group that came out of it, which is ENHYPEN. Consisting of 7 members namely Jungwon (leader), Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo and Ni-ki, they recently made their official debut on 30th Nov through the release of an EP titled BORDER : DAY ONE. Their title track Given-Taken full music video was also released on the same day and is available for viewing on YouTube. The song's MV was a bit darker in concept than what you would expect from a debut song, but putting that aside, the lyrics were rather meaningful and certainly not your typical lovey dovey and bright, but rather hopeful and inspiring. It's a song meant to tell their story as ENHYPEN, the conflicting emotions they face coming out from a survival show and hailed as the global fan-made boyband. Is this opportunity given to them, or they take it themselves? The verse of the song goes : "Thousands of doubts behind me/more ...

Hello, everyone! I have not posted on this blog for quite some time. I feel so bad. Some changes are inevitable though and I've found a more convenient way to update and rave and rant about whatever program I'm watching. Please head over to my Instagram page  @nikaicafe for my recent posts. I've started the insta since June last year, so yeah, it's been a while. Appreciate any comments and discussions on the posts as I find it part of what makes drama-watching all the more interesting. Don't forget to drop by. See ya!

Like Being Shot By a Bullet  Covering one of Baek Jiyoung's popular ballads, Hwang Chi Yeul challenged himself again, this time rearranging the song into a rock ballad, or at least that's how I would term it. After listening to Kim Feel's cover many moons ago in Immortal Songs 2 , I did wonder how Chi Yeul's going to do it, because Kim Feel's version was pretty cool already. Turning the song into a rock style did give it an edge. His voice was perfect for the arrangement. It still sounded very sad like the original. It hurts, but it rocks. There's a segment in the middle where he sang without accompaniment from any musical instrument. His pitch-perfect rough voice just pierced through the hall, it was awesome. Towards the end the song just got higher and higher and he nailed it. Like, total daebak. He should do more of this. Rock ballad could totally be his style. Since this is the last round before the finale (unless you are substitute singers or el...

Gai Bian Zi Ji (Change Myself) Singing a cover of Wang Lee Hom's Change Myself , this performance was everything I was hoping for. No ballad, no extended, meticulous choreographed dance routine. It was a fun stage, seemingly freestyle and definitely free-spirited. It was not a thoughtless performance. Every move was rehearsed  and  timed perfectly and was meant to capture the audience. Hwang Chi Yeol made every transition smoothly that it seemed so natural. For the first time, he actively interacted with the audience and you can literally hear them responding to him, it was deafening, almost. The moment the audience was singing along loudly with him, you know he got this. It felt like he was having a fun stage at his very own concert! All in all, it was quite a breakthrough moment for him in my opinion. It was not something you've seen from him before, not even in Immortal Songs 2. He actually mimicked a formulaic performance that normally would have secured final win in I...

Y ou Are Just Somewhere a Little Higher Than Me Performing second, he was back to emotional rendition of a ballad song. This song holds a special meaning to me when it comes to Hwang Chi Yeul. It was, as far as I recall, the very song that has brought my attention back to him after  I Can See You Voice  and successfully thrown me to a point of no return to Hwang Chi Yeul fandom. The song was his performance for Immortal Songs 2 that earned him the title and trophy Super Rookie for the  Super Rookie Showdown  episode. It was not his first appearance in  Immortal Songs 2 , and not really his first win (He won a trophy in earlier appearance for song "Father"), but until that episode, I had no idea he was even in  Immortal Songs 2 . I was not a dedicated  IS2  follower, but was chanced upon that particular episode while browsing youtube. Since then, I had backtracked all the way to his first appearance and kept checking the  IS2  guest...

Honey Hwang Chi Yeul challenged himself again with a dance number. He performed fourth, this time with a cover of JYP's Honey. Well, not as exciting as Bang Bang Bang for me, but it did have a solo dance part that drove the audience wild. I suspect that I have to be part of the real time audience to truly appreciate this particular performance. There's high probability that the audio quality (always the case since episode 1) and the poor video editing for TV makes it less wholesome. That aside, I actually enjoyed the audience's reaction to him, especially Lala and Jeff Chang's manager, who drooled and all. haha. Now that was hilarious. This performance brought him back to top spot, after Bang Bang Bang. Two wins, both through dancing. I personally felt a little sad that his identity as a balladeer has yet to gain the highest spot it deserves in the competition. He was so close to it with his first and second appearances, earning 2nd place for both. And as far a...

I'm bored while waiting for his next performance...

一个人的天荒地老 (Eternity of a Single Person) I heart this performance. 一个人的天荒地老 was originally sung by Phil Chang. I wasn't attracted to the song when I heard it the first time while looking for reference in anticipation for Hwang Chi Yeul's performance. I don't know if it's my bias, or because Hwang Chi Yeul really did an excellent job, but the song just sounds 100 times better now. Hahaha. He inserted element of Korean folk song in the middle (Arirang). Out of all his stint with Chinese songs so far, this is my favorite yet. He's back to performing 2nd this time, and ranked 4th place. (Side note: I wish he was ranked higher because it was a very good performance. But I am not exactly hang up on that because the top three were performances that I enjoyed as well. I pretty much agree with the overall ranking this week.) Previous Performance(s):  Week 1 ;  Week 2 ;  Week 3 ;  Week 4 ;  Week 5 ; Week 6

Go Hae (Confession) His fans probably know how much this song means to him. This is one of the songs he sang when he first debuted, which was used as the OST for the popular series  Lovers  back in 2007. The original singer was Im Jaebum, who acknowledged Hwang Chi Yeul's powerful vocal. After nine years of being an unknown singer, he again sang "Confession" in the show  I Can See Your Voice , the very show that catapulted him to overnight sensation. He was practically in every other variety show ever since, and even became a regular guest in Immortal Songs 2 . He challenged himself again with the song through  I Am a Singer , this time with new arrangement. And just as I was beginning to miss his soft tones, this arrangement came along and showcased the softer side of his vocal while still mostly maintained the beloved husky and rough tone. And his high notes was just wow~ He performed it with a certain attitude that sucked you in in  I Can See Your Voice...

默 ( Silence) After a dance number the previous week, Hwang Chi Yeul is back to ballad. This week he chose to sing Na Ying's 默 - this song is used for the movie  You Are My Sunshine . One of the things I admire about Hwang Chi Yeul is how he manages to rearrange a song and makes it his own, and most of the time, I personally feel that his version is always better than the original. This week's performance however was no such case. He was good as usual, and it was kudos to him for again, singing in a language he's not familiar with. But whenever I feel like listening to 默, I will normally listen to the original as well, after listening to him. He performed fifth, and ranked 6th place. Previous Performance(s):  Week 1 ;  Week 2 ;  Week 3 ;  Week 4

Bang Bang Bang   After three consecutive weeks of performing ballads, it's finally time for a dance song, which I believe what many of his fans who knew of his dancer background were waiting for. He chose Big Bang's Bang Bang Bang. I am not familiar with the song, so I had to search it on youtube when I read that he was performing the song. I was worried to be honest, but then Bang! He made the song his own. He sang in Chinese and used Korean for the rap part. I have no idea what Big Bang's fans have to say, but I really like Hwang Chi Yeul's take on this one. There was element of James Bond in the performance, which should be cheesy but surprisingly worked. He sang, he rapped, he danced, he acted. It was Hwang Chi Yeul at his best yet.  Having said that, I wouldn't have known that he was performing this when his condition was quite terrible, if not for the behind the scenes that was shown in his Korean show  I Live Alone . The program followed his daily live...

一路上有你 (To Have You On This Road) He performed one of Jacky Cheung songs, 一路上有你 He sang the whole song in Mandarin. His Chinese fans in the audience must be very happy coz now they could sing along with him. He did his signature move - bended on one knee - for this one. Haha. He performed 6th and ranked 3rd for his performance, again behind Coco Lee who placed 2nd. Previous Performance(s):  Week 1 ;  Week 2

From the Beginning Until Now This song brings back memories of  Winter Sonata . It is one of the OST in the series. I used to put Winter Sonata OST on repeat mode for months. I just love the soft and melancholic melodies of its songs. When I read that Hwang Chi Yeul was going to sing this song, I was curious how different it's going to sound like with his husky voice, because I love the original as it is. He started singing in Mandarin, which gave him 'A' for effort. I don't know if he did well because I don't speak the language, but based on the audiences' responses, I would assume he did just fine. Or maybe the audiences were too kind? I must confess that I wasn't captivated at first watch, maybe because I still had my bias for the original. Nevertheless,  once I dropped my bias, it was, in typical Hwang Chi Yeul manner, a performance full of emotions and amazing vocals. The song arrangement seemed to be divided into so many parts within the shor...

From I Can See You Voice to Immortal Songs 2 , this talented guy is creating waves wherever he goes. His voice is like drugs. I'm addicted. And he's so witty. Currently, he's one of the contestants in I Am a Singer (China) Season 4 , with first episode aired on 15th Jan 2016.  I miss him in Immortal Songs 2 , but glad to see him performing internationally. I look forward to more amazing performances. That Person This song is part of Baker King Kim Tak Gu OST , originally sang by Lee Seung Chul. Hwang Chi Yeul sang this song in Immortal Songs 2 during Lee Seung Chul week and received praises from the legend for his powerful vocals. I personally prefer his performance of this song in I Am a Singer more. He gave more variations in his vocal range and for his first outing, I thought it was a solid performance deserving his second ranking at the end of the show.  

There's something envious about a short story that is well-written and get all the points across without seemingly rushed. I love writing but always fail to pick a subject that I can write to form a short story. My line of thoughts always think of long-winded plots that will take a lot of chapters to reach a conclusion, which then causes them to never be written at all. I really appreciate writers than can pick to write about anything and make a complete story about a topic in just a few pages long.  The same can be said about short films or short series. Splash Splash Love, a 2-episode series starring Kim Seul Gi ( Oh My Ghostess ) and Yoon Doo Joon ( Let's Eat ) is one good example of getting the message across without being draggy. It feels like a coming-of-age series. It tells the story of a high school girl who's bad at math and was on the verge of losing hope due to the high academic expectations of today's society. It's a common problem faced by many t...

The story begins with Athit, a driver, pretending to be his boss, Ratrawee. And Wilailuck, a servant, pretending to be a high-class woman by stealing her mistress, Montira's, dresses. They both go on a date and fall in love at first sight not knowing that the other one is lying. When the two bosses know about this, they demand for both of the servants to tell the other the truth, but they continue to lie. When Ratrawee first encounters Montira, he immediately falls for her and tells Athit to continue lying. Ratrawee and Montira got to spend times together and started to fall in love, too. Will both couples be able to accept each others' true identities at the end? - viki Unless I read some great reviews, my go-to lakorns normally are the ones with either Anne Thongprasom or Ken Theradeth. If they both are in it, even better. But those two are quite a veteran in the industry already and new generation is booming so might as well I find a new anchor, like finding a new act...

Koyurugi Sota looks up to and adores his senior in school, Takahashi Saeko. With his one-sided love for her, he decides to leave for Paris to learn the art of making chocolates, as she loves chocolates. After returning from Paris, Sota dreams of creating the perfect chocolate to present to Saeko, and that it will make Saeko fall madly in love with him. Saeko, who is already married, is actually quite the airhead, but her actions seem to lead Sota on. Does Saeko not know that Sota is madly in love with her? Or is she just playing with his feelings? ( http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Shitsuren_Chocolatier ) This was a japanese drama that I picked up without knowing much what to expect. A drama about chocolate can't be all that bad. But I have mixed feelings by the end of it. While most of the time I was taken aback with the high tolerance for immorality in this series, I do admit it was intriguing to watch for it was less straight forward than your standard romance. I don't have...

After Nodame Cantabile, I think this was the first J-drama that made me LOL till my stomach hurt. While Nodame Cantabile was more towards slapstick comedy, Date was deadpan humor, and often times got pretty hilarious in places that I didn't expect. I just had to pause at certain scenes just so I could continue laughing. Date depicted the 'adventure' of a highly intelligent but emotionally-challenged Yoriko Yabushita to find a marriage partner before she hit 30. She wasn't initially keen on relationship and thought romance was nonsense. But she overheard her father crying one day brooding on her future while looking at his dead wife's picture. With a sense of filial duty, she signed up with a dating agency to look for the perfect match. 

University student Mizuho Suga ( Tsubasa Honda ) learns that her former high school classmate Haruka Origuchi ( Erina Mizuno ) died from an illness. At her funeral, Mizuho meets another former high school classmate Hikaru Narumi ( Yuma Nakayama ). In their high school days, Hikaru Narumi was famous for being a playboy. Mizuho and Hikaru Narumi were also in a special relationship. Hikaru was outgoing, but Mizuho found it difficult to make new friends. They once kissed in the classroom and went on a one day summer trip together. They weren't friends or lovers and kept their relationship a secret.  Meanwhile, Haruka Origuchi's mother tries to talk to Mizuho, believing Mizuho was her daughter's best friend. Haruka's mother asks about Haruka's boyfriend. Haruka became pregnant with her boyfriend in the past. - AsianWiki

It's been a long while since I posted a drama review on this blog. To be honest, I haven't done much k-drama watching these days. If I do, I never finish, or if I finish, the impression isn't strong enough to propel me to sit up and type away. Between this on-off interest in k-drama, I actually managed to finish two Taiwanese series both starring Aaron Yan ( Just You and Fall in Love with Me ). He was so riveting as an actor I just couldn't stopped watching. And because I thought maybe Taiwanese series weren't so bad these days, I kept looking at the streaming site for any TW-series that hopefully would be as engaging, if not story-wise then acting-wise but none really sticked out.  I tried  Fabulous Boys  which turned out to be a remake of K-drama You're Beautiful.  The start was decent, but because I watched You're Beautiful quite faithfully, and nothing in this remake seemed to deviate from the original series, everything soon became boring so...