Drama Review: Runaway

Rain before going to the army and before he started dating Kim Tae Hee. How he ended up landing Kim Tae Hee is beyond me - and i'm jealous. That's an entirely different topic though. In this drama he is actually charismatic and plays his role very well.

The story is about a private detective that is hired to find the man that killed the heroine's family. Rain plays the private detective and Lee Na Young plays the traumatized victim. There are lots of plot twists and turns in this drama - but it feels very overdone. Many of the scenes were predictable and the dialogue between the characters starting after episode 10 starts to put you to sleep. The action and fighting sequences were done well during the first 3 episodes - then it kinda gets boring. Boring in the sense that it's the same guy chasing Rain down a street.

I would recommend watching at least the first 3 episodes because they are jammed packed with expensive action scenes and explosions. I'm not a big Rain fan, but did come across this drama because Lee Na Young is dating Won Bin.. I didn't know who she was so I googled her and this drama popped up and sparked my curiosity.

Rating: 7/10

Watch it on Dramafever for free.

Drama Review: Love Rain

Oh Yoona.. so pretty. I have to rank her in the top 10 natural beauties in Korea. From all the pictures I've seen of her - there is no evidence that she had any plastic surgery done to her face. Didn't she originally debut as a child actress? My memory deceives me, and I can't be sure.

Love Rain is a story about young love. There are typical Korean drama: triangle love connections, parents objecting to their kids relationships, someone gets sick, and of course break up and make up. The setting in episode 1 is in Korea during the 1960's and Yoona and her friends are College students. Guy falls in love, girl falls in love, friend falls in love with the same girl, and the girl gets sick. That's just the beginning - as the story progresses into the future. What happens after? Go check it out. It's only 20 hours of your life. And about 15 of those hours you get to see Yoona. Oh, and there is lots of kissing... haha. :)

Rating: 7/10

Check out all 20 episodes @ Drama Fever.

Song of the Day and some updates

Psy - Gentleman

The awaited follow up to Gangnam Style. Everyone (including myself) thought Psy's next song would be a complete fluke and he would remain a one hit wonder in the eyes of the world. My first impression of the song was:

1. Copy the dance from Brown Eyed Girls Abracadabra
2. Many of the same concepts from Gangnam style in the MV
3. Catchy beat

Took me about two listens before I liked the song. There are many Psy song's i enjoyed even from his first album. He is talented and i give him props with how much he has accomplished. There are a few misconceptions about the song and it's suprising how many ignorant people there are in this world.

1. His NOT from north korea.. lol?
2. He does NOT say "mother fucker Gentleman" - it's actually Mother Father gentleman - but i'm sure he used it cleverly
3. He does not say "WEST SIDE" - this is probably the biggest mistake people make. He is actually saying "WET PSY" - which is a nickname he received during Infinity Challenge where his armpits were soaked in sweat. He came out on TV and admitted that he sweats a lot - hence WET Psy.

45 million views on Youtube in less than 2 days. Not bad.



Ailee and Baechigi. This girl has some crazy vocals. I love her. If someone asked me to choose between Ailee and Hyorin - that would be tough. Probably the two most talented idols in Kpop at the moment.

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Life overall has been good. I've been running around like a chicken with my head chopped off. Been very busy with work, but it's fun and stressful at the same time. I already have my ficticious business name which is REP appraisals. REP is an acronym of "Reputation, Excellence, Perfection".

There are a few restaurants i tried out recently.

1. Kang Ho Dong - Korean BBQ: The best Korean BBQ i've ever had. Better than Honey Pig. Hands down. The meat just melts in your mouth.
2. Orochon: I did their Spicy #2 challenge and failed. Not because it was spicy or because I ran out of time - but because there are just too much vegetables. I hate vegetables - and it just had too much of it. It was 1/3 noodles, 2/3 vegetables. If they offered a free shirt or something maybe I would have forced it - but I'm not going to force myself to eat something i don't like for bragging rights.

Been really thinking about buying another bike. This time i might actually do it, but the only thing holding me back is do i save the money for a house? That's the other thing, been seriously thinking about buying a condo soon. Possibly a 1bed / 1bath in Ktown or Studio City. Short sales are going for about $300k. I need to get out of my current rent situation and get settled soon. I've been getting ahead of myself and started looked at interior designs and how i'm going to spice up my rooms when/if i buy a home.

I did realize that I usually stop blogging when I get into a relationship. I just got out of one and look where i am.. lol.. back to blogging.

More RAM Please!

I have been debating on getting a new laptop since last year. Never got around to it because the one i'm using right now still works fine. I just wanted something beefier with an updated graphics card. Around January, I noticed my computer being very slow after closing certain programs such as Photoshop which take up lots of ram. I thought it was just my computer being old, but I also believed it was because the computer was using up the entire 2gigs i had, and making up the difference from the HD cache. I figured a $70 investment on a 4gig ram made more sense than cashing out $1,200 for a new laptop. Also updated my nVidia drivers and behold - fast computer again.

Closing programs, alt-tabbing, all go much smoother now. I'm running Win7 32-bit so technically the system only registers 3.5gb of ram, but it still makes a HUGE ~~~ difference. Very happy with the upgrade considering it only cost $70.

Currently running a Dell Inspiron 1520.
2.2ghz Intel Dual Core
4gb 800mhz DDR2
120GB HD
nVidia 8600GT

Still runs like a champ.

Diet Tip #8: Eat Right

"Blah blah blah" is what i used to hear when people used to talk about just dieting or eating right instead of working out and burning calories. Things have slightly changed now. I experienced it myself. Let me tell you the back-story.

Around sometime in July when i first started working at my new job, my boss was on this crazy chicken breast diet. Chicken breast and some mixed garden salad. That's all he ate. So, he would feed me the same thing he was eating for lunch and dinner. I ended up loosing like 15 lbs in one month. However, this didn't last because we started eating really bad and late at night. Pizza, KFC, etc. Guess it was comfort food since we were so stressed out from work. From about September to December of 2012, i ate really bad. Also in November i stopped working out because i was too busy to go to the gym. Drinking Goose and Redbull at 1am didn't help either. In any case, i ended up getting a belly. The turning point was after lunch in January 2013 when my pants were too tight and i needed to unbutton the top to breath.

Round 2 began around January 15th 2013. There were two resolutions i came up with.

1. Work out at home at least every other day.

2. Eat right. Completely cut off bad sugar. Sugar is digested and is processed into fat. Sugar is bad. No more soda. Lower carb intake - specially simple carbs like White Bread or White Rice.

Eating right is harder than it seems. I crave junk food - especially food loaded with carbs. So i made an adjustment. I get to cheat on weekends. Ever so slightly.

Here's what my diet consists of and i've lost about 10 lbs in 1 month and gained about 10 lbs in muscle mass.

Breakfast:
1. 2x Egg whites (no yolk). Seasoned with salt and pepper. Cooked in extra virgin olive oil.

Lunch:
Option 1: Tuna Melt. Canned Tuna / Wheat Bread / Pepperjack cheese
Option 2: Chicken Melt. Chicken Breast / Wheat Bread / Light American cheese

Dinner:
Option 1: Chicken Breast. Baked in a toaster oven. Marinated with olive oil and salt and pepper.
Option 2: Progresso or Chunky soup. Clam Chowder and Chicken Noodle are my favorites. Low in calories and filling.

This is lots of protein and very low in fat. I should probably add some garden salad for lunch, but i hate vegetables. I do need more fiber in my diet, and have been buying the Double Fiber wheat bread.

Impressions:

So far so good. My pants are now looser. I can definitely see more definition in my chest and shoulder area. I have a 2 pack.. almost 4 pack right after i work out. I feel leaner and healthier. I gotta do this for another 2 months and step up my work outs by mixing in some endurance training to get leaner.

Other Blurbs:

Shopping List. I generally go every week.

1. Dozen Eggs - $3
2. Frozen Chicken Breasts - $7 (pack of 10)
3. Canned Chicken Breasts - $3 (I try not to buy too much of this because it's expensive, but nice to have if you are in a hurry and can't defrost)
4. Water 24 pack - $3
5. Wheat Bread (double fiber) - $3
6. Canned Tuna - $89 cents each
7. Light Cheese - $4
8. Soup (Progresso / Chunky) - $2 each
9. Orange Juice $4

I buy about $30 worth of food every week. $30 / 5 = $6 per day for breakfast / lunch / dinner. That's pretty damn good.

Save money. Loose weight. Gain muscle. Be healthier. It's win win.. and more win.

Favorite TV Shows of 2013

There is some awesome TV shows returning in 2013. I just realized that many of these shows are on AMC cable channel. I would highly recommend the following:

1. Breaking Bad (drugs)
2. Game of Thrones (magic and boobies)
3. Spartacus (warning: lots of penis)
4. The Walking Dead (zombies)
5. Falling Sky (aliens)
6. How I Met Your Mother (getting closer to the final episode. who is the mom??)
7. Mentalist (Simon Baker just kills the roll as Patrick Jane)
8. Law and Order SVU (has some of the best story telling)
9. Top Gear ($$ cars.. nuff said)
10. Beauty and the Beast (only because of Kristen Kreuk - drama itself is so so)

Song of the Day: Bruno Mars - When I Was Your Man

I'm in love with this song.