Sophilicity

First of all, I'd like to apologise, I'm not very good when it comes to committing to a project because I get carried away with a lot of other projects too. So much so, it's been over 4 years since I started my blog, and the last actual blog post I made was in February 2018. In June 2018, I started a project on my blog showcasing my experiences as I wanted to try a different approach so I started talking about stereotypes as my first subject. However, I haven't had much time to offer more experiences since. If you haven't already, you can find out more about my experiences in the experience tab at the top of my blog page!

However, it's been a busy period these past couples of years, but blogging is something that I definitely want to get back into. I don't want to make any promises since I'm not very good at making commitments with this blog, but let me provide you with an insight of content which I hope to share with you from now. 

To summarise my experiences since 2018:

• July-September 2018 - Worked with Katy&Sean for an internship experience in Events, PR & Marketing. Assisted with the Korean fashion brand, Sewing Boundaries and worked to host K-Pop concerts in collaboration with Beyond Ent. e.g. BIGONE & UP10TION.
• September 2018 - Began 2nd year of university, working as the social secretary of the UoN Korean Society till May 2019.
• January 2019 - Left my job at UnitedKpop and flew to Budapest, Hungary for a short trip with my best friend, Ying.
• March 2019 - Left my job at PHunk'D and was elected as the new general secretary of the UoN CFM Society. Also flew to Lisbon, Portugal during reading week, with two friends, Aneeqa & Kira.
• June 2019 - Finished my 2nd year of university and flew to Ningbo, China for UNNC Summer School programme. 

To think that I wouldn't of even clocked if it wasn't for my Facebook memories of last year's first anniversary for my blog. As I opened up my Facebook memories of last year, looking back at my 1st anniversary blog... I realised how much has changed since I first started 2 years ago...

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Similarly to my 1st anniversary, I'll provide you guys (and myself) a 'quick' overview of what has happened in the past year! Let's start off by rewinding back to last June or so...

Last summer, I finished my A-Levels and finally finished college. From there I was still deciding what to do, but I was able to go on my first trip with my friends without my parents or any adults with us (because well... we were adults). A spontaneous trip which was decided during a free period, led to a trip to Rome for 4-5 days with my college friends!

After I came back from Rome, I spent a lot of my time working hard at two jobs, Thorpe Park Resort along with Snowflake Gelato as a Social Media Intern. But I think one of favourite parts of summer 2016 was being able to attend the Inspire Me Korea summer meetup! Whilst catching up with old friends, I also got to meet some awesome new friends who also enjoyed the things I liked! Thank you guys for sharing a hilarious meetup with me! Gonna drop those throwback videos from 2016!!

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As we drew to the end of summer, I was still deciding what I wanted to do with my gap year. Although I stopped working at both of my jobs, I still managed to have the opportunity to work on promotion work, and I was fortunate enough to work again with Arpeggios Entertainment where I assisted MYNAME for their concert in London in September!

I swear the amount of times MYNAME members photobombed our selfies 😂 Last night's concert was amazing, it was great working with MYNAME 🎤

A post shared by Sophia Tang 🐼 (@sophilicity) on Sep 10, 2016 at 5:25pm PDT

Although it was stressful, I think it was a great opportunity - plus it was paid :') But whilst I got experience from organising, got my practice my Korean (well what I even knew of the language-) along with using my media skills e.g. photography etc. I got to share it with people who made the experience a memorable one! Whether it be conversing in Korean/Japanese/English or even supporting one another whilst still being professional. I'm ready to do it again if I get the chance to!

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During September, I also applied for the opportunity to join K-Pop Academy hosted by the Korean Cultural Centre in the UK! I'd actually previously applied near when it first started running, but was unsuccessful. However, this time I was accepted onto the 10 week course, and started late September and ended around late November! Honestly, the course went by so fast, I wish I could relive it again.

Can't believe my time at the 10th K-Pop Academy is over~ It's been such a wonderful experience being able to educate myself in Korean culture as well as form bonds with people with the same interests as myself. By the end of it we were probably all a bit emotional and I'm gonna miss everybody so much 😭💕 Photo credits: @justjustinle

A post shared by Sophia Tang 🐼 (@sophilicity) on Nov 28, 2016 at 4:56am PST

The course gave me the opportunity to develop my knowledge of Korean culture - plus actually helped me get back into the routine of school - Yes we had homework... BUT! I actually enjoyed doing the homework a lot of the time, so whilst learning I was having fun :D Honestly, if you have the opportunity to do so, definitely apply for K-Pop Academy, you won't regret it!

Plus, I actually made a close group of friends who I'm still connected to till now~ We will all be re-grouping for the Korean Festival in London this July! These guys probably made my experience 10x more fun, whether it be cracking jokes during class, to our various food/dessert outings after class ahaha... And here I wonder why I spent so much money during those months RIP. To Kira (I mean I knew you beforehand girl but I'm including you anyways!), Jamila, Drew, Lisa, Natasha! Thanks for making my time at K-Pop Academy an 11/10 experience :')

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Before I headed off to Korea that December, I went to my first paid-concert! Yep- I actually hadn't paid for a concert till I went to CRUSH ahaha. And there are NO REGRETS whatsoever. CRUSH was amazing, I wish I woke up early enough to actually buy tickets to his first date, but I'm glad they released an extra date because his vocals are unreal! Let's just appreciate some CRUSH vocals below:



For the second date, I went with my gals, May and Jenni (these girls are the ones I always go with for these K-HipHop, R&B concerts aha), and we had a great time! I just remember CRUSH throwing water at us LMAO, but he was so hyped, it was so sweet!

There were too many selfies to share 😂 But I can't believe CRUSH (@crush9244) is over 😭 I wish the concert had been longer, I was appreciating his voice so much asdfghjkl - I hope I get to see him again 💕

A post shared by Sophia Tang 🐼 (@sophilicity) on Nov 28, 2016 at 5:09pm PST

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Shortly after the concerts, I was already flying off to Korea. This was a big step for me being the fact this was the first time I would be travelling so far from home, without my parents and for over a week at a time. I flew off the Korea for 2 weeks - It's funny how the idea came about when me and my friend, Aneeqa spontaneously decided we would go to Korea... And to think we would ended up going (and we will soon be going off again woop!). Despite all the obstacles we faced trying to go to Korea, we made it, and it was a worthwhile experience!

Hello Kitty my love 💕 PC: @__nikki.k

A post shared by Sophia Tang 🐼 (@sophilicity) on Dec 10, 2016 at 4:30am PST

Whether it was doing touristy stuff like going to Namsan Tower and going to Hello Kitty Island (That was the best, me and Aneeqa were dying from Hello Kitty ahaha!). But also just taking in the different environment altogether... The way we decided to approach Korea was quite different because we did many things which would make you think? Damn, these guys are living like locals aha! And I'm glad to say that I'll be heading back and staying in the same area again! Aneeqa, Alix, we had some interesting experiences - Thank you for being the ones to share it with me!

A post shared by Sophia Tang 🐼 (@sophilicity) on Dec 27, 2016 at 3:16pm PST

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After I returned back from Korea, I was already having those holiday-blues... But although the first month after Korea was probably spent partying... A lot... As it hit February, I was lucky enough to be contacted by my friend, Beatrice (from K-Online Television) who I had previously worked with regarding an opportunity to help in a music video production for 2 Korean Artists! At first I was deciding on my priorities, but in the end I went for it... And I'm actually so thankful I did!



These guys treated me so well! From my director, Maisie, to the cameraman, Michael, along with the artists, DAZE, Ray and Fatal from KIMOXAVI. Special thanks goes to Hyungmin who was wonderful to work with from UniqueTunes Records (Can't thank you enough for always treating us to food and for your kindness) along with Freya from UnitedKpop!~ You'll be sure to see KIMOXAVI's release soon~

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Another thing to remember from February, was probably one of the memorable concerts to date (I say memorable but I legit just got reminded a while ago about this concert RIP) - ANYWAYS... What I was trying to say is, that this concert was probably one of my favourite concerts I've been to. I've attended various sets, but the venue, the artists just the whole event was really well planned out.

What's more, although I knew of Zion T, his unique style was captivated live, and I'm not surprised that despite having the biggest venue I've seen to date for a concert, he managed to sell out without a struggle! The whole concert presence was amazing. I'm usually quite scared at times for concerts because of how fans can be, but because of his smooth, melodic vocals, you can't help but have an amazing chill time just appreciating his vocals - with everyone's love for Zion T showing as we all sang along to his songs in harmony.


The thing about Zion T was the fact after I went bingeing through his songs, one of my particular favourites being 'Eat' (which I linked above), he manages to conquer a lot of issues within society which you can help but love him for. For this song, he's sweet to remind the girl to eat, especially with the strict beauty standards in Korea~

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After I had the opportunity to participate in the British-Korean music video production, I decided that I was going to try and grab every opportunity I can get! So I went for it, and decided to apply as a writer for UnitedKpop - and guess what?! As of April 2017, I am officially a feature writer/photographer for them! If it wasn't for Freya who reminded me about the application, and just for this blog in general, I don't think I would of made it! And I can't even think to tell you how many amazing opportunities I've had because of this job. Whether it would be interviewing famous stars, to attending exclusive screenings of a film! I can't wait to see what opportunities I can earn when I put my efforts into what I enjoy doing - Writing about the things I love! Cringey as it may sound, I've learnt to really enjoy writing about Korean news!

You can check out all my posts here!

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And I guess that leads me to where I am today... A year ago, I don't think I would of been so motivated to write so often. I had a momentary hiatus because I wasn't sure where to go from here... But I learnt from many people that it's just about doing it and seeing where it takes you! There's so many people that I could thank, but this would lead me to an endless essay. Thank you to everyone who supported me, who recognised my abilities, who motivated me to keep going!

Well... This also leads me to think about, what can I give you guys in this upcoming year! I'll be heading off to South Korea shortly, in less than a month. I hope I can embrace as many opportunities as possible within that month - hopefully I will be able to try and vlog and bring another media platform to my blog. Anyone interested in watching me on Youtube? - Just a thought aha! Also, from this upcoming year, I hope as I will be entering university this September, I can continue to socialise, build my connections and make my mark for real! Thank you for reading, to all my readers, my supporters, my families, friends... I'm very grateful! ❤

PS: As BTS's anniversary was actually June the 13th (just a day after mine - except it will be 4 years for these guys and 2 years for me), I thought I'd drop one their newest edition to their Festa productions. Check out their remake of Agust D's So Far Away - this time a collaboration between Suga, Jin and Jungkook (a song I discovered today - It was a song I was listening to whilst I was feeling very down, but the meaning behind the lyrics might be something you feel, but you have many people around you to support you - don't forget...) ~

Apologies for the inactivity, I've been busy doing work for Unitedkpop recently so haven't had a chance to update my own blog! However, feel free to check out my latest posts on Unitedkpop here ~

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It's finally June, which means summer is coming~ I thought since I've been keeping updated with the latest K-Pop/K-HipHop tunes for my work with Unitedkpop, that I would bring to you my top 20 favourite summer hits for your summer playlist! (These will be in no particular order! You'll also realise there's a lot of SISTAR in this post - My summer queens ❤)

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GRAY - Summer Night (Remix) ft. Hoody

NOTE: So I decided to go on a GRAY binge one evening, and ended up discovering this song by GRAY. The song is a chill-out summer beat, produced by GRAY himself (he's one of the best producers I know from AOMG). I've also come to love Hoody, so hearing her and GRAY's voice together in one song is a dream for me aha! This song has to be one of my favourite remixes of all time, since I'm not usually the type to listen to Korean remixes.

SISTAR - Loving U

NOTE: So recently the news has announced that their upcoming comeback will be SISTAR's last comeback. They announced they will be disbanding... Considering I know SISTAR best for their summer tunes, it's sad to hear about their disbandment. On lighter news, Loving U was one of my first SISTAR songs that I listened to! I remember this song being the first K-Pop song I learnt to dance to properly back in 2013!

Taeyeon - Why

This has to be one of my favourite solos so far released by Taeyeon - although she never fails to amaze me with her vocal and releases. This upbeat summery solo is totally a tune to add to your playlist, I already have it on mine. The vibrant MV also conveys the summer vibes providing with a visual is desirable. In regards to the song it features some EDM influence with an R&B vibe.

Jay Park - My Last ft. Loco & GRAY

This was probably one of the first Jay Park songs I listened to, Joah was probably my first - not too sure. All I know is that I got into Jay Park quite late. However, last summer I spent my entire time replaying this song constantly (although it was released in 2015). To me, any Jay Park collaboration featuring Loco, GRAY or Hoody is something I know I'm going to enjoy aha. GRAY and Cha Cha Malone are probably one of my favourite producers, and they both worked on this track - so obviously you know it's gonna be good! It's quite a comical MV, but shirtless Jay Park had to be one thing which knowing Jay Park, you knew it would definitely be featured! It's a catchy song, which I continually never get tired of listening to.

WINNER - Really Really

When I first listened to this song, I knew already that I was going to have to form a summer playlist with this song. It was a song which was released in Spring this year and the song which drew me into stanning WINNER. Although I have liked their previous songs, this song was the one which drew me into their fandom. The song is an upbeat catchy song, with a simple dance to follow as well. You can't help but get this song stuck in your head - also the release is to this day, one of their most popular releases of all time. But also their first release with former WINNER member, Nam Taehyun.

DAY6 - I'm Serious

Probably one of my favourite groups that I stan. They are a humorous bunch, and they produce music which never fails to amaze you with all it's varieties through instruments played by themselves. This song is their release for April - for 2017, they decided to have a comeback for every month on the 6th day of every month (6th for DAY6) ahaha. This song is a great summer song to play on a road trip to the beach - I'm sure many of you will be heading to the beach this summer to relax, tan and more~ If you haven't already you should check out their music and stan - #makejaenothungry - If you want to understand the reference, click here ~

Girls' Generation - PARTY

Beach party anyone?! This song is another summer tune from 2015! The song is from the first group which got me into K-Pop, better known as Girls' Generation or SNSD. This MV is a fun MV and the music can be described between a mix of electro-pop and bubblegum pop! After watching this MV, I literally wanted to dye my hair Taeyeon's hair colour - although I didn't think I'd pull it off aha. Definitely another catchy hit to add to your playlist if you're looking for a girly, summer vibe!

SISTAR - Touch My Body

I remember this song best because of it's unique dance move which many described as the "dog pissing" move - although somewhat crude, I couldn't help but laugh because... It's actually rather true ahaha. But we are back again with our summer queens, to bring you 'Touch My Body'. SISTAR never fail to catch on, and once again we have a great summer hit from 2014. Many idols have also reenacted the famous move such as J-Hope from BTS, as well as label-mate, BamBam from GOT7. Surprisingly enough, it was even featured on an episode of Family Guy (you can check out a clip of it's feature here.)

Jay Park - Drive ft. GRAY

Another Jay Park song! Jay Park released some great songs this year for his album 'Everything You Wanted'. The song features GRAY and was also produced by GRAY. I remember when this song was released, I found out that Bora from SISTAR was featured in the MV and it seems Jay Park has a crush on Bora so it must be a dream come true. Also, the award for the best subtitles has to go to Jay Park for subtitling his own MVs - 'GRAY SEXY ENGLISH TIME' cracked me up. Another track you've definitely gotta listening to whilst you 'drive' ahaha - bad pun RIP.

SISTAR - I Swear

Back again with another SISTAR hit~ When I first heard this song I thought it was gonna be quite a laid back smooth jam, but then I continued listening and the beat changed and it became more upbeat - despite the change, I still continued to enjoy the song a lot. I've read many comments regarding the MV and their choice of outfits and cinematography, but I still appreciate the girls. They've had to face a lot of issues regarding sexualisation of society as well as skin colour (particularly Hyorin who is naturally tanner than many K-Pop idols and has received criticism). Nevertheless, the group are literally squad goals and body goals :')

MOBB - Hit Me ft. KUSH

Forming a duo with this pair is a mess yet you can't help but enjoy their music because of how lit it is ahahaha! The group, MOBB formed with iKON's Bobby and WINNER's Mino bring to you some amazing hip-hop tracks. This song is rather different from the others because of it's hard-hitting beat, it's a song you can play during the summer when you're ready to club. When the beat drops, you know you can't help but jam to the song - it's a fun and lively beat, a song to let yourself loose! (Trust me I know from experience from hearing this song at NB2 back in Seoul last December loool).

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SanE x Raina - A Midsummer's Night Sweetness

In contrast to the previous track, this song has a sweet melody which is accompanied by San E's rap. The song is a collaboration between San E and After School's Raina. The song was released during the summer of 2014, and achieved number 1 in 10 major music charts after its release. A song you listen to on a summer's night whilst drinking beers and catching up on life. SEVENTEEN also made a rendition of this song with their HipHop unit, which you can check out here~

Girl's Day - Darling

Girl's Day have been popularly known for their sexy hits such as 'Something' and 'Expectation' but they came back during July 2014 with 'Darling'~ The MV and song presents an 80's vibe with the bright visuals as well as the introduction to the song. The bold coloured setting, with the checkered floors remind me of the 80's style of roller disco! The dance is similar to the 50's vibe along with the retro style aesthetic~ Many concepts tend to aim to bring a lot of modern vibes and latest trends, so seeing famous old trends being brought back for this MV was rather unique to me!

ASTRO - Breathless

I first found out about ASTRO when my friend showed me a video of Rocky choreographying a song (you can check it out here - I can't believe this boy is a 99'liner... When did I become so old as a 97'liner omg...) so I was considering getting into them for a while but it took me longer than expected. I'm still new to the group, but I decided to watch their show 'To Be Continued' which made me more informed about the group - I think my bias is Eunwoo aha! But the group have a cute concept for this MV which features IOI's Yoojung. Another beach summer song as a part of their 'Summer Vibes' second mini album! "Breathless can be described as a refreshing song with a clear and additive melody." - a track which follows in the genre of synth-pop.

ZICO - Boys and Girls ft. Babylon

Although the track was released in November 2015, the song provides a lot of summer vibes. I'm rather questioning the stylists thoughts on their wardrobe choices for the MV though... The song is an upbeat, feel-good track! I guess ZICO's focus to tell his girl to have fun and be care-free, refrain from being awkward and worrying to much and to just have a good time!~ To think, Zico composed, wrote lyrics and arranged the track amazes me! No wonder the song topped the Gaon Digital Chart throughout the entirety of November - he's amazing!

NU'EST - Not Over You

NU'EST debuted back in 2012, but despite their comebacks they were lacking in promotions. They were probably the first boy group I stanned since debut. I was sad to see 4 of the members participated in Produce 101 to bring light to the group for an opportunity to do better with their career. For them, it would be their last opportunity for success (especially as SEVENTEEN who debuted later, succeeded better than them... Sigh...) ~ In regards to the song, it's a very chill summer song, which I could probably hear myself listening to as I ride my bike appreciating the summer weather (I mean I'm saying this as if I can even ride a bike properly... RIP). Anyways, I hope you guys check out this group, because they are so underrated! (PS: Watch Produce 101 Season 2 if you have the chance, because these guys are great on there!)

Taeyeon - Starlight ft. DEAN

If I'm honest, when I first heard this song I wasn't really a fan but I didn't give it much of a chance. However, when I listened to it once again, I couldn't help but fall in love with the song - I'm glad I gave it a second chance. The collaboration between two of my favourite artists talks about a summer love - and honestly I can't help but ship them in this music video. The combination of their voices provides a sweet melody, that you can't desire their relationship presented in this MV. (PS: I'm so excited that I will have an opportunity to see DEAN live next month in London on the 25th of June~ I'll let you guys know how it is huehuehue~)

GOT7 - A

The MV itself is actually quite fun and what I can say is somewhat cute? (ft. Mark's ramen hair) and conveys a more colourful visual in comparison to their debut which was more focused on a hip-hop image. The song was produced by JYP himself, and can be described as a light and bouncy track. I first got into GOT7 after I found out JJ Project (a duo formed with GOT7's Jinyoung and JB) were no longer going to be a duo but to join 5 other members to become GOT7. Although the group debuted and were described as a Hip-Hop group, the group changed up their concept whilst still showing off aspects of their b-boy style choreography in the piece. (SIDENOTE: You guys need to check out their reenactments of their 'A' teasers on Weekly Idol - check out the clip here).

Hoody - By Your Side

Ok, if you watch the MV you'll be quite surprised between the contrast of the song and the actual MV. The MV is quite fun, but then it gets rather deep- If you listen to the song you will realise it seems like a very upbeat song, and the lyrics can describe the care-free reality. Hoody has become one of my favourite solo artists recently, especially as she's the only female artists signed to AOMG! If you haven't already, check out her 'On and On' album - all the songs are so easily to listen to!

Crush - Oasis ft. ZICO

I've taken a liking to CRUSH's voice for a long time but after attending a concert he held in London last November, I literally became a big fan of his music. His vocals via audio and live are flawless. Usually I'd expect one or the other to be lacking, but he does well in both - I'm jealous!! If you're feeling some summer R&B vibes, this is the song for you. ZICO's rap is great, but watch as the beat drops and the rap gets hard and heavy - it's like 'go hard or go home' kinda feel aha~ We also have some random ass feature of Zion T near the end of the MV. CRUSH's silky voice ft. ZICO's strong rapping skills = a great hit!

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I hope you guys enjoyed my latest blog post~ I'll attempt to update a lot more now that I have found more time to post... If I'm not procrastinating by watching dramas.. Let me know your thoughts of the tracks below! I'm also welcoming any suggestions, so I can add some more tracks to my own summer playlist! :D

So I've been thinking, what is the best way of sustaining content on my blog, and I thought, why not write about the things I enjoy watching, listening to and doing everyday. Whether it be my favourite videos, favourite songs or even my favourite TV shows at the time!

To start off with, I thought I would talk about my current favourite songs which I recommend you guys having a listen to! Also feel free to drop down suggestions of songs I should listen to as well, I'm open to listening to anything~ I mainly listen to Asian music, specifically Korean music, but there are occasional English songs I listen to as well from time to time!

Hot Song Picks of April/May

My first song is SURAN's Wine/If I Get Drunk Today (오늘 취하면) ft Changmo. This song was first introduced to me by my dear best friend, Aneeqa! The song is produced by her bias, Yoongi otherwise known as Suga from BTS. They've collaborated before for Suga (Agust.D)'s mixtape, where she was featured on one of his songs called "So Far Away". This is one of my favourite songs at the moment from my "Chill Out K-Tunes" playlist. I really appreciate SURAN's voice since first hearing her voice featured in Suga's mixtape, it's quite unique in the sense which makes her voice quite memorable. I remember staying over Aneeqa's house and this was the first song we were listening to the morning after drinking, as well as being the last song we heard after knocking out after drinks.



My second song recommendation would have to be WINNER's Really Really. Since Taehyun's departure, the group came back as a four releasing two tracks called "Really Really" and "Fool". I'd known about WINNER since they released their song "Empty" however I hadn't become so invested in them despite Taehyun being my bias at the time, till after he'd actually left. Their recent comebacks made me go watch every "Really Really" live performance as well as their performances on other shows... My favourite live I watched of "Really Really" was their one with Dingo Music. It makes me question why I stan them really, but they are a hilarious group. Check out their live below:



My third song choice is something I discovered quite recently through watching a Chinese drama called "The Perfect Match" (I'll be talking more about this drama later on!). I hadn't heard about this group before but after hearing this song in the opening of the drama, I ended up replaying the song for ages ahaha. The song talks about being a cold careless person who finds someone to love who helped them discover and express themselves (from what I gathered from reading translations, my Chinese is nonexistent...RIP).



My fourth recommendation was actually I stumbled upon the other day when I suddenly remembered my love for G.E.M. I attended her concert back in November 2015 in London by chance. Since then, I've been following her for her talents. She's amazing honestly, she's able to play so many instruments and sing in so many genres and I can't help adore her. This piece was made for the Chinese version of the film, Passengers (I still need to see this to be honest...) and just listening to it made me feel a lot of emotions - It made me remember why I loved G.E.M so much honestly.



Last but not least, is a Vietnamese song (Vietnam represent ahaha!) from an artist called MIN. I don't really listen to much Vietnamese music despite being Chinese-Vietnamese but she was only of the rare artists I try to keep up with when I'm listening to music. I first discovered MIN back when she was still part of ST.319 which are an organisation who originally were known for K-Pop dance covers. They proceeded to become an entertainment company who creates artists ranging from rappers to singers to even Vietnamese pop groups such as MONSTAR. An interesting fact for you guys, MIN is actually Vietnamese-German - I personally think that's an awesome mix aha!

UPDATE: MIN just released her music video for her latest song, check the MV out below:

Moving on, I've been watching a lot of Asian dramas, and recently there's quite a few that I've been hooked on since last month~

Top Asian TV-Dramas of April/May

My first favourite definitely has to go to Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. I have many thoughts about this drama which arose after finding out the actors for this drama. The main pair consists of Park Hyungsik who plays Ahn Minhyuk and Park Boyoung who plays Do Bong Soon. I also can't forget one of my favourite actors, Jisoo who plays Gook-Du. There was definitely strong chemistry between the main leads, enough to make my flail, and enough for me to not even have SLS (Second Lead Syndrome) - Although my feelings did arise towards the end. SIDENOTE: When will Jisoo ever have a proper main role where he isn't the second lead omg-


The drama to summarise is about a woman who was born with super-human strength. Although I'm not much for fictional fantasy-like themes, I personally really enjoyed this drama. It played off well at the start, but as it got to the end, I felt at the times the writers didn't really know where they were going with the plot, as the sub-plots were pretty irrelevant after a while and merely fillers. The relationship between the two main leads however was literally "goals". Both of the main leads played their parts so well, and I'd fallen in love with Park Hyungsik since watching him in Hwarang. Starting this drama made me love him even more... I don't think I've ever adored someone's acting so much aha, his expressions, his character, everything is just so on pointe. I hope to see him in a main role again, and with Park Boyoung by his side, the pair are unstoppable. Park Boyoung has a natural cute aura, I personally dislike forceful cuteness, but her bubbly character makes the drama a worthwhile watch - I'll definitely be checking out more of her dramas! You can check out the first episode here.

For my second drama, I previously mentioned about the drama "The Perfect Match". I stumbled upon this drama when I was scrolling through Viki, trying to find a good drama to watch. I've watched a lot of dramas but there aren't many dramas that have caught my attention recently and I feel I'm sorting of just forcing myself to get by because I tried to avoid dropping dramas or leaving them incomplete as much as possible. The drama is based around food, the main female lead, Fenqing (played by Ivy Shao) is chef based in a night market whilst the male lead, Tingen (played by Chris Wu) is a famous chef for a fine-dining restaurant. They come across one another during an incident where the male lead's curry lobster dish is compared to the female lead's night market version, the curry shrimp mini burger. Her version is deemed as the more affordable dish for the citizens.


 As someone who loves food, I'm really enjoying this airing drama so far. It's interesting watching how the chefs get to work with their dishes and watching the drama unveil the back stories of each character as well as general character development, I always find myself wondering what will happen next. Once again, there is definitely some SLS going on, as the second lead, Shao Wei is played by Ben Wu. The episodes air weekly on a Friday but take a while to be subbed. I have currently watched 9 episodes of 18 so far, but I'm looking forward to see how it will end although knowingly the main leads will get together - assuming majority of drama logic aha. Check out the episodes here - WARNING! Unlike the other links, Viki has ads during the episode unless you have a Viki Pass, the use of adblock will only provide you with even longer breaks between the episodes so it's best to turn it off if you do happen to have adblock on.

Last but not least, another airing drama, but this time we are back to Korea drama land! My last drama that I'm currently watching at the moment is called My Secret Romance. The drama features Song Jieun (from SECRET) and Sung Hoon as the main leads. In this drama, Sunghoon plays Cha Jinwook who is a son of a wealthy family, and runs a large company, whilst Song Jieun plays Lee Yoomi, a nutritionist. The concept which drew me to this drama was the pair ends up having a one-night stand (this occurs within the first episode - NSFW to be honest-). I rarely see themes like this shown on TV dramas, more movies so it was interesting to see how they would go about portraying this in the drama.


At times I felt the drama was lacking somewhat when it started, but the ending of episode 1 was definitely a sight to see. The first two episodes for me didn't feel like I was getting enough although I understand the reasoning for the build up of the main leads' relationship. The episodes this week I found a lot more interesting, as their relationship has been developed a lot more and I get to see some more interesting action. Personally for me, I really appreciate the second lead, Hyeontae in this drama, played by Kim Jaeyeong. I can feel him trying to showcase his feelings but she doesn't seem to realise them (it's similar to how I feel for the second lead in The Perfect Match). This is OCN's first rom-com drama, or romance drama in general, as they are especially known for thriller, crime and action dramas e.g. Voice, Missing Noir M and Vampire Prosecutor etc. I'm interested to see how this drama will evolve, particularly as I have come to love Sunghoon since seeing his feature in Oh My Venus alongside Henry of Super Junior. If you would like to watch the episodes, click here.

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Finally, we have come to the TV shows. I used to actually watch so many American/British TV shows, but I've become so invested in Asian TV shows (mainly Korean TV shows) I think it's rare to find me watching anything else... So if you do have any awesome TV show recommendations do let me know, in the comments below! PS: This is an old favourite, but I definitely recommend watching Terrace House if you have Netflix~

Favourite Korean TV Shows of April/May

I think for my current favourite shows, I've become recently invested in watching Produce 101 Season 2 - And yes I plan to watch the first season soon as well! The reason I actually started this drama was well other than the fact my friends, Lisa and Kira recommended it to me, I also wanted to watch it for one of my favourite K-Pop groups, NU'EST. I was really distraught to find that their company, Pledis had got them to participate in this show - In a way of saying that they weren't successful. They debuted in 2012, but they lacked promotion unlike later groups such as SEVENTEEN who are rather successful at the moment.


What I found from this season was that the judges are rather critical. From what I've heard, the judges are a lot more critical in regards to judging in comparison to the last season. The representative of Season 1 was Jang Geunsuk whilst for Season 2 it is BoA. I've definitely learnt to develop favourites from the boys, other than the fact my favourite JR from NU'EST otherwise known as Jonghyun is taking part. I felt a lot of emotions when watching these episodes, sometimes they would be hilarious and sometimes the talks hit me right in the feels. For now, to give you guys a little preview, I'll drop you down my favourite performance so far from Produce 101 Season 2 below:



The members shown in this video are formed to make the Justice League team. This includes Kim Jonghyun (NU'EST, PLEDIS), Hwang Minhyun (NU'EST, PLEDIS), Kang Daniel (MMO), Ong Seungwoo (Fantagio), Kim Jaehwan (Individual Trainee) and Kwon Hyunbin (YGK+). This performance was the one that most appealed to me when the groups competed on M Countdown. Other than the fact the group members were all my favourites, I feel like the group covered all the aspects required of a K-Pop group, followed by a strong supportive leader, Jonghyun - You'll learn the reason why he has now been named the "Nation's Leader" after watching episode 4.

Although there have been many controversies in relation to Produce 101, there have been many entertaining moments such as episode 5's scare segment. You can check out the segment below:





I hope you guys take an opportunity to have a watch of this series! It's quite interesting, and you'll learn to love the boys as you continue watching~ Click here to watch the episodes!

Next up! I recommend watching Yangnam Show! The show features different artists each week, where they come into the show wearing their pyjamas and complete different activities to win snacks, as well as competing to become the Party King. The show is rather entertaining and I particular like the section where they do the mic change version - I was sad they didn't do this with BTS who came on the first episode of the new show. But it was definitely one to watch! My favourite mic change versions so far have to be BTOB's "I'll Be Your Man" as well as GOT7's version of "Never Ever" and "A". Check out some of the mic change renditions down below:





I hope you guys enjoyed those clips if you had a chance to watch aha! Hopefully this has made you want to watch the show yourself. You can check out the link to the show here.

Last but not least, I wanted to introduce this show to you guys. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet because there aren't any subs released so far, but I thought it was definitely a show you guys should watch out for! It's a show called "Secret Training Variety Show". There's not much to say about the show, but merely the fact that it's definitely a show which exposes the idols in a way. There's no hiding their actions really, and honestly watching clips makes me want to watch it even more. You can check out a couple of the clips of the show below (unfortunately there's no subs):





And the main reason I found out about this show was from this one clip I saw on Facebook aha! The clip had me cracking up so much from the reactions, I couldn't help but look up the show!


I'm looking forward to watching the full show once the subs are out. I hope you guys will watch it along with me as it seems like it will be a great laugh aha!

Thanks for tuning in for another post this week, it's quite a long one but if you're looking for some recommendations for things to watch and listen to, this is the post for you! Enjoy~

So I've been telling myself these days that I should really get back to blogging, but I've been trying to decide on the kind of content which would be easy to write about on a regular basis. Would anyone be interested in a weekly post about the dramas and music I've been watching and listening to? I've been trying to accommodate work life, social life and more, but it's been more difficult than I had thought... Sorry for the inactivity-- RIP.

Moving on! Last month, I attended a clubbing event hosted by Young Bros in London. I've been to a couple of K-Pop clubbing events in London however this particular concept interested me a lot. The concept was formed of two different aspects: 

1. Touch Me Concept

2. Traffic Light Party

The "Touch Me" concept was basically completed through the use of stickers. Once you entered the event, after you claimed your wristband (I'll explain the wristband concept in a moment), you would walk down the flight of stairs where you could pick up stickers from the table available. There was various stickers available, but the main ones were the "kiss me" stickers or the "touch me" stickers. Although this concept may seem questionable as such, there were rules implemented to avoid any harassment. I remember seeing different groups of friends and each time they would be sticking more stickers on me, but the stickers themselves kept falling off at times... Although... I remember coming back home and each consecutive day after the party, I would find a new sticker from my outfit... Oh dear...

Moving on to the "Traffic Light Party" concept, Earlier on I was talking about receiving wristbands at the entrance. As you walk in, you can opt between 3 different types of wristbands. This is to represent your relationship status. I thought these were cool, but the problem with these wristbands were that they were hidden in the dark. For those wearing long sleeves, it might also be difficult to see the wristbands, and I'm sure a heard a few people being hit on despite the colour of their wristband (but then again... I'm sure this happens a lot anyways...). As a suggestion, I feel like they should implement the use of glowstick wristbands as they would be more prominent in the dark unlike the wristbands. 

Onto the actual clubbing experience! I arrived at the club around 11:30PM/12AM, and already the place was quite packed, but throughout the night, I found it very difficult to move throughout the venue. The popularity of the event was unreal! There was a lot of music played which I enjoyed ranging from popular K-Pop hits to K-HipHop additions. The music choices played throughout the night were one's which you could dance to (I've had issues in the past where DJs have played songs which are very difficult to dance to, so I'm glad they considered this) - heads up to the DJs! However, I found by the end of the night, they were playing upbeat songs. By this time, majority of us were drained from dancing all night so I'd hoped for slightly more chill songs to end the night.


As for the venue, I appreciated the size of the venue despite how many people there were. Drinks were quite expensive at the Opal Bar so I'm glad I made a decision to predrink, although at the end there was quite a lot of bottles being distributed around due to not hitting the minimum spend limit.



I personally enjoyed the night more as people started leaving, as I was able to actually dance. It was a struggle trying to be aware of not hitting someone whilst dancing or having to stop dancing to let someone through.. I feel there should of been a tighter restriction on how many people were allowed in, as it could be quite uncomfortable at times just trying to squeeze past or even dance.

A post shared by Sophia Tang 🐼 (@sophilicity) on Mar 20, 2017 at 5:29am PDT

However, I was thankful to be able to see all my friends at the club, it was definitely an event which many people wanted to go to. I even found myself reuniting with old friends and more.

Thank you to Young Bros for providing us lit tunes to dance to with an awesome concept, and Opal Bar for your service! It was my second time at a Young Bros event and my first time at Opal Bar and I appreciated it very much! PS: Thank you for the photos!

Don't forget to subscribe to Young Bros for upcoming events! They provide clubbing events around Europe from the UK to Poland to Germany and more~ Check out the links below!

Young Bros Facebook
Young Bros Instagram
Young Bros Website

Thank you for reading! And I hope to be posting much more soon!~

I completely went on a hiatus over these past couple of months, but I didn't think it would be right to leave my blog forever... I was planning to go straight back into blogging but it's been so long I didn't know how to throw myself back again! But don't worry I actually have so many posts coming for you! I promise you I haven't died guys - Well not just yet... OTL

(I mean if this guy hasn't probably tried to kill me everyday - Yeah ready to expose myself, I am a BIG fan of Jungkook from BTS (-cough- T R A S H -cough-) - RIP when he performed Rainism for the End of Year shows :))) Why is life so hard... If you haven't seen the performance imma link it here because I appreciate... and when I say appreciate, I mean APPRECIATE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WOxFTrFw70)

Anyways... My last blog post was late October... Jesus it's been at least 5 months- But I think I'm going to go back to being more personal so my writing style might change a tad bit for you guys to get more personal with me and my life!

How about a little insert of my life from me to you?

I'll try to keep this short as I can because I don't want to spoil too much of the content for my upcoming posts aha!! (By the way, I say short, but my short is on another level...)

OCTOBER

If any of you guys have been reading, I was attending the K-Pop Academy at the Korean Cultural Centre in London (Damn I seriously need to catch up with that blog series... Got a bit lazy there didn't I-- RIP - Seriously, they've already started the 11th K-Pop Academy and here I am...). 

Moving on... I also had a chance to attend the Sik-K concert in London ran by Beatcraze. I went as press and managed to get some pretty cool footage - So hopefully you'll be seeing a blog post about that soon!!

I'd also managed to attend a dance show ran by DGC! I was working as a photographer at the time and it was a pretty lively experience - I'd actually never been to one of their dance shows before but the talent shown, there were some phenomenal performances! You can check out my FB album with all the photos I took from the show - just click the link below:

DGC Dance Show Photography

Did you also know, that there have been numerous K-Pop/K-Hip Hop nights going around in London. I managed to attend my first one in October located in Surya! Hosted by Arpeggios Entertainment (the company who brought MYNAME and HISTORY to London!). It's been amazing so far, to subscribe to more of these nights (unfortunately you've got to be 18+ - Sorry young ones!), check out the links below to find out more~

Young Bros Facebook Page

Asian Nights London Facebook Page

And of course, I took the opportunity to go to Comic Con in October. There's not much I can say about it since I've attended lots of times, but it never fails to be filled with numerous cosplays and many attendees aha~

NOVEMBER

If I'm honest, I spent majority of this month just working as I was preparing to leave to South Korea at the end of the month, however I did manage to do a couple of things this month... I mean other than eating-

Remember K-Pop Academy? Well, I actually graduated from the academy in this month but along with the graduation I also got to attend the K-Pop Friends Reunion hosted by the KCC. (I will take the chance to explain more when I get round to finishing my K-Pop Academy blog series... Eventually...)

2 days before D-Day (aka. my flight to Korea) I actually got to attend a concert in London! I think this actually had to be the first concert... Which I actually paid for... LOL. But I got to see CRUSH live! Unfortunately it was the second date - I cry, I heard DEAN and Miso etc. attended the first concert but I got the second date... Sad that the set was so short, but I got to appreciate CRUSH's voice - I was totally singing the entirety of "Don't Forget ft. Taeyeon", like CRUSH pass me the mic because I will sing the Taeyeon part for you :') I ended up on a binge of CRUSH songs after the concert aha...

Other than that, I actually left for South Korea for 2 weeks from the 30th of November - I was planning to excite you guys with a vlog but it failed after landing in Korea... However, I do have quite a few things to say and share with you regarding my trip to Korea - And thus another few blog posts to share with you guys~ But I'm gonna leave you with a little hint below regarding my Korea stories... Huehuehue...

DECEMBER

Let's be honest, I pretty much spent about 2 weeks of the first half of December in Korea - and do I regret it... Nah. It was lit, but more information soon...

Otherwise... I didn't actually do much in December without spoiling my trip to Korea-- But it was amazing either way... From drinking times to clubbing times to much food - Food is love, food is life.

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JANUARY

And thus after my trip from Korea... Did I become quite a party animal... I had the chance to check out the clubbing scene quite a bit around London, varying from Ministry of Sound to even clubs near home... Such as PRYZM.

OH! But I can say for one thing, later than ever, but HAPPY BELATED CHINESE/VIETNAMESE/LUNAR NEW YEAR! If you didn't know already, I'm actually half Vietnamese and half Chinese, so we celebrated the new Lunar New Year on the 28th of January - How did I spend it? I actually spent it Asian clubbing at a PlayKrown event-

The work life has been pretty hectic otherwise so that's probably my only excuse to my long hiatus for the lacking of blogging...

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FEBRUARY

I've actually had some pretty exciting opportunities during this month. And I can definitely say I've eaten pretty luxuriously as well - To think I finally managed to tick off another one of my food bucket list places, Duck and Waffle!

Throwback to Sunny's birthday celebration at Duck and Waffle ❤️ - The traditional Duck and Waffle dish is definitely a recommendation at £17 per portion. - #sophilicityeats

A post shared by Sophia Tang 🐼 (@sophilicity) on Feb 21, 2017 at 11:38am PST

I actually spent about 2 days working with some Korean artists who came all the way from South Korea, and it was an exciting experience which I hope to share more to you in the future~ I will definitely be sharing with you the music videos I helped create with an amazing team - Shoutout to Maisie and Michael especially! More information soon~ Hint: One of the artists has been compared as a mixture of DEAN and Heize! (Thus I feel I need to insert a song from them because their collabs are lit tbh-)

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MARCH

And here we are, hello March! I hope this can be the month were I will share with you all my experiences - Hopefully some of them can be exciting for you guys to read~

Thus... I will attempt to be more productive this month with my blogging and I hope you guys reading can deal with me a tad bit longer aha!~

How should I end it? How about something that you rarely see ever? A selfie -coughs- Instagram promotion -coughs- You should follow me tbh, I post lots of food -coughs-

A post shared by Sophia Tang 🐼 (@sophilicity) on Mar 2, 2017 at 3:48am PST

Aha I'm getting there I promise-- More like me writing up blogs at midnight because that's the best time my brain decides to productively function for blogs, but hey-ho! Although... My dad is questioning my ability to function and why I can't be "normal" and sleep early... Enough about me, moving onto Week 3 for K-Pop Academy!!

If I'm honest, I was quite hyped for this! Reason being is because I really enjoy singing as a hobby so I thought it would be a great chance to learn another genre of music. I heard the previous week that we would be singing and let's be honest... There were a lot of mixed responses aha...

I came to the class not knowing much about Korean traditional music other than Samulnori and the Gayageum. How do I know this? Well, I recently attended a Chuseok event where there was Samulnori performers which was very intriguing to watch. Also, I know about the Gayageum instrument because of the K-drama, "Heartstrings" featuring CNBLUE's Yonghwa and Minhyuk as well as Park Shin Hye. Although it may not be the best drama, I really enjoyed the characters and the fusion of modern band instruments with Korean traditional instruments. You can check out a clip of one of the Heartstring performances below:

Before I get side-tracked... Let's return back to the main purpose of the post aha...

Our lecture for this week was held by Anna Yates whom is a PhD student in Ethnomusicology from SOAS. Her assistant, Damiola Eniola has an MA in Musical and Performance Composition from SOAS. Damiola accompanied Anna during performances, playing the drum otherwise known as the "buk" in Korean. Anna taught us about the different Korean music types and much more. Here's a quick summary of what I gathered from my notes.

Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK

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SUMMARY

K-Traditional music is collectively known as Kugak.

Court music is determined as "elegant music". The musical instruments and melodies incorporated into court music were imported from China in the Tang (ehhh my surname) and Song dynasty. Usually, if there was a new king, thus began a new principle - meaning a new dynasty determined a change in the musical system.

Folk music, better known as "minyo" which means "folk song" were performed during work and play time. However folk music then led to professional performances on stage.
There are different sounds for different regions:
- Seodo minyo - nasal voice, wide vibrato
- Gyeonggi minyo - clear and clean voice (usually quite high)
- Namdo minyo - tight throat and chest resonance

Pansori is known as storytelling through song.
There are 5 core stories, which last up to 8 hours long.
Pansori has links to shamanism which originally was only for lower class entertainment however was later "upgraded" for nobility. This was completed through incorporating Chinese literacy references and philosophical ideas.
However, pansori requires long years of harsh training to be able to obtain the right voice.

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I hope you found that interesting to read. It's quite a lot for a "summary"... But being the person I am I have a tendency to write a lot... Even for a summary.. Oops.

Moving on, we began to learn how to perform the famous "Arirang" piece. However, there are many variations to Arirang, so we performed the "Jindo Arirang" from the Jindo County in South Jeolla province. We first had to learn the different tones varying from the core tone to vibrating tone. It was quite difficult but I think it really helped reading the music sheet and seeing where the notes were placed on the scale to see where a note needs to be dropped or held etc.

Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK

After we had learnt the gist of the piece, we all stood up and were all given a fan each. This was the prop we would be using to assist us with our performance.

Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK

Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK

After we had learnt how to incorporate hand gestures with our fans we began to split off into groups. The winning team would be awarded with an opportunity to pick hanboks first as we would be studying K-fashion the week after. I remember trying to loosen my fan so much by swinging it back and forth especially as one of the movements involved opening and closing the fan gracefully (after a week my fan was a lot easier to open and close but it wasn't when I needed it... T_T)

Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK

Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK

Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK

It was difficult trying to maintain the tones throughout the piece, I think a lot of us struggled with the first note for the verse. Or we had trouble trying to work out how long to hold certain notes whilst attempting to pronounce the Korean words in the Arirang piece.

Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK

Before we knew it, time had ran out and we were all getting seated to perform to one another. We were the last to perform despite debating when we should put ourselves up to perform. Either way, it was quite a fun performance! The winners had a special trump card for their performance, They decided to incorporate a wave effect by combining all their fans together which make it very unique from everyone else's. They definitely deserved to win, and their pronunciation and tones were on pointe!

Cr. Korean Cultural Centre UK

I feel like as each week progresses, I can't help but regret not learning about this stuff before. It's never really boring. Although there's lots to content to take in, we always do some activities where we can try it for ourselves than just learn from listening to a lecture.

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Homework of the Week!

As for every week, we are given 3 options to choose from. For this week, I decided to create a pitch for a new K-Pop group that combines K-Pop trends with Korean historical traditions. This meant considering the instruments, to the outfits of the groups as well as reasons why this group would stand out amongst the rivals in the industry etc.

I actually stayed up till 4AM in the morning just completing this pitch... I think I got way too into drawing all the designs by hand which left all the writing content quite last minute... I created a K-Pop girl band called J2H otherwise known as Journey to Harmony.






Other than the homework we were given for Week 3. We were also given the option to design our fans that we were given from the lecture. I took this opportunity to use watercolour pencils to create a flowery design inspired by cherry blossoms. Funnily enough, I brought my fan to the next lecture and it ended up matching my hanbok - This was unintentional but you'll find out more about the hanboks in the next edition! I'm sure my mother was criticising me constantly for my fan design saying stuff like "oh the branches are too dark", "make the flowers brighter" etc...

I actually enjoyed the homework... This actually says a lot because for once I didn't feel like I was suffering whilst trying to do the homework. Maybe because it was a homework about a topic which I was interested in... Which I can't say so much for a lot of the subjects I studied in school...

I hope you enjoyed the 3rd edition of my K-Pop Academy series. If you have any queries or whatnot, feel free to comment below. If you're enjoying this series so far, I'd appreciate any thoughtful comments but anyways before it gets to sunrise, I will see you guys soon! Look forward to the next edition of the K-Pop Academy series, featuring K-Fashion (Hanboks)!