G'day everyone! Let's take a break from the ever-effervescent (haha love how that sounds) world of K-pop with my first ever product review, that of Vanilla Milk and Raspberry Shower Gel from Original Source (picture(s) coming soon, if my iPhone 4S and internet connection will cooperate.)
Yes, you heard me right. Original Source has finally broken into the Indonesian market, and as far as my observation goes currently only its shower gel range is available, at the likes of Guardian and Century. It has also entered the market of small towns as I bought my Vanilla Milk and Raspberry at a Giant near my workplace in Cikarang.
Anyway, if you have a look at the website, you sure have an idea of what the Original Source shower gel bottle looks like. It really is designed upside down, so when you open the cap you need to be careful not to spill the shower gel. You can't put the bottle with the other side down because of its arching end. So in terms of bottle design, obviously practicality isn't a top priority.
Vanilla Milk and Raspberry shower gel smells nothing short of heavenly. It reminds me of raspberry cream on a puff pastry. I was expecting the scent to stay profoundly on my skin like Caramel Shower Gel from Cottage, but said scent only lingers faintly. In terms of whether it actually softens the skin (in my case it doesn't dry my skin but it doesn't leave a thin film of oil either), I should say it has the effect of most other shower gels, with the exception of (again) Cottage's Caramel Shower Gel which leaves your skin instantly smoother.
All in all, if you're the type that looks for the sensation of awesome-smelling shower gel while bathing, Original Source's Vanilla Milk and Raspberry Shower Gel is a good choice. In terms of anything else, maybe you'd better stick to your dermatologist-prescribed shower gel...
Thursday, 27 February 2014
Sunday, 5 January 2014
Birthday greetings...
Happy belated birthday to the CEO of Woollim Entertainment, Lee Jungyeop, who turned a year older on January 4!
Sangeil chukkae hamnida Lee Jungyeop sajangnim!
I haven't learned how to say "happy belated birthday" in Korean :p
A whole-hearted thank you from Inspirits and Twings for debuting Infinite, Tasty, Nell and Yoo Jiae, although some probably still can't forgive you for what you did to Tablo and about the Kim Myungsoo and Kim Doyeon dating "scandal."
Also a very special thank you for not forbidding Lee Sungjong to do girlband dances, otherwise I wouldn't have found his "Adult Ceremony" performance and eventually my way to Infinite!
Sincere wishes for good health, more success for Woollim and its artists - and since I hear that you're still single, I hope you'll soon find a better half!
I do hope that in the future you'll let your artists speak for themselves regarding dating rumors and the like. Let them announce their relationships or publicly apologize if they're proven to be in possession of drugs. I'm sure you know by now that real fans will support their idols no matter what (or in some cases, wonder if it's all just a set-up.) Ignore the sasaengs and those who would just leave the idols once they're revealed to be mere humans.
Isn't it appropriate that my first entry for 2014 is one dedicated to the man behind Infinite, a group that made 2013 brighter for me :)
Sangeil chukkae hamnida Lee Jungyeop sajangnim!
I haven't learned how to say "happy belated birthday" in Korean :p
A whole-hearted thank you from Inspirits and Twings for debuting Infinite, Tasty, Nell and Yoo Jiae, although some probably still can't forgive you for what you did to Tablo and about the Kim Myungsoo and Kim Doyeon dating "scandal."
Also a very special thank you for not forbidding Lee Sungjong to do girlband dances, otherwise I wouldn't have found his "Adult Ceremony" performance and eventually my way to Infinite!
Sincere wishes for good health, more success for Woollim and its artists - and since I hear that you're still single, I hope you'll soon find a better half!
I do hope that in the future you'll let your artists speak for themselves regarding dating rumors and the like. Let them announce their relationships or publicly apologize if they're proven to be in possession of drugs. I'm sure you know by now that real fans will support their idols no matter what (or in some cases, wonder if it's all just a set-up.) Ignore the sasaengs and those who would just leave the idols once they're revealed to be mere humans.
Isn't it appropriate that my first entry for 2014 is one dedicated to the man behind Infinite, a group that made 2013 brighter for me :)
Saturday, 28 December 2013
K-pop stars and the Pacific Ocean experience
I'm aware that a lot of my visitors stumble on my blog after typing in "Son Sungah, Fiji" on Google. Obviously you're trying to find out whether it's true that Sungah of the girl group Nine Muses did indeed live in Fiji. Well, wonder no more, for the lady herself confirms that she once lived in Suva, the capital city of Fiji, here.
Lately, rumours have been swirling that Sungah is dating Jang Intae (I'll refer to him by his stage name Inati here) from DMTN (formerly known as Dalmatian.)
It's interesting to note that Inati attended Rotorua Boys' High School in New Zealand.
Before taking the plunge the world of K-pop, Inati lived in New Zealand and Sungah lived in Fiji. Those are unusual backgrounds in the K-pop realm as most overseas Koreans in there are from USA or Canada. If it's true that the two are dating, most likely the fact that they lived in neighbouring Pacific Ocean countries plays a significant part in their chemistry. I wonder what they talk about when they get to hang out, when they're not practicing, performing and touring? Very likely it's their experience being Koreans amidst a huge Pacific Islander population...
To Inati, from one New Zealand-educated Asian to another: Kia ora, mate! I totally dig "Safety Zone" - keep up the good work aye!
Lately, rumours have been swirling that Sungah is dating Jang Intae (I'll refer to him by his stage name Inati here) from DMTN (formerly known as Dalmatian.)
It's interesting to note that Inati attended Rotorua Boys' High School in New Zealand.
Before taking the plunge the world of K-pop, Inati lived in New Zealand and Sungah lived in Fiji. Those are unusual backgrounds in the K-pop realm as most overseas Koreans in there are from USA or Canada. If it's true that the two are dating, most likely the fact that they lived in neighbouring Pacific Ocean countries plays a significant part in their chemistry. I wonder what they talk about when they get to hang out, when they're not practicing, performing and touring? Very likely it's their experience being Koreans amidst a huge Pacific Islander population...
To Inati, from one New Zealand-educated Asian to another: Kia ora, mate! I totally dig "Safety Zone" - keep up the good work aye!
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Infinite and possible publicity stunts
Twitter is currently ablaze with Woollim's confirmation that Infinite's second maknae Kim Myungsoo (also known as L, but I'll refer to him as Myungsoo here) did indeed date an ulzzang (an "ulzzang" is like minor celebrity, a guy or girl who gains popularity online by posting selcas) called Kim Doyeon. The agency even implied that the two might still be together, only estranged due to Infinite's "One Great Step" world tour.
Back in September, Doyeon topped Twitter trending topics for her tweets which insinuated that she was dating Myungsoo and posting pictures allegedly of her and Myungsoo together. Then Woollim released a statement saying that Myungsoo and Doyeon were just friends, triggering Inspirits to accuse the poor girl of being an attention seeker.
Woollim eventually came clean about Myungsoo and Doyeon dating after the girl tweeted that Inspirits (or should I say those who are half Inspirit and half sasaeng) stole petrol from her car, threw garbage at her office and even threw bottles at her. She threatened to bring this to court.
You might want to think well Myungsoo is 21 (22 in Korean age) and Doyeon works and drives, so she's at least Myungsoo's age, why not let them date. And let's applaud Myungsoo for being able to squeeze a bit of personal life into his crazy gruelling schedule.
Except...is that really the case? Was Woollim's confirmation that the Infinite visual was dating really an act of coming clean?
When Inspirits first became aware of Kim Doyeon in late September, Infinite was in the midst of the OGS' Asian leg. Also, on the very same date that Doyeon topped trending topics for the first time (September 26), Infinite released "Request", a single for their Samsung promotion campaigns. And let's look at other things surrounding the revelation of the two Kims' relationship. Last week, Woollim released two teasers of "Day and Night", a comeback single of their duo Tasty. Also last week, Infinite won "Worldwide Performer" and "Best Male Group" (beating Shinee and EXO from K-pop industry titan SM) at the 2013 M-Net Asian Music Awards (MAMA 2013) in Hong Kong, and the boyband has just kickstarted the European part of OGS, with a concert in London being held tonight (yes a Wednesday.)
Aaand let's not forget that sometime in their US tour which has just wrapped, member Jang Dongwoo revealed that Infinite would release a new single just before the end of the year.
You don't have to be a Communications Science expert to have every right to suspect the whole Kim Doyeon brouhaha is nothing but a publicity stunt. What I don't understand is with all the new level of popularity brought by OGS world tour, endorsements (Infinite are brand ambassadors of Samsung and Natuur Pop, and this year they added Pepsi to the list), award wins, comeback albums and singles, why would Woollim create this "Myungsoo dating Doyeon" stunt to bring attention to any new Infinite release - or Tasty for that matter? Sure, Tasty is nowhere near as famous as their labelmate Infinite yet, having debuted just last year, but "Day and Night" is Tasty's second comeback of the year, which means the duo's popularity is rising. Can't they just "rise from the ashes" the way Infinite did when they debuted back in 2010, without the help of any scandal?
Or is it some kind of a warning that we shouldn't be shocked when Doyeon is revealed to be a K-pop trainee of any agency (not necessarily Woollim)?
If it is indeed a publicity stunt, then the biggest blame most likely lies on the cutthroat Korean music industry, in which new girlbands, boybands and solo artists emerge everyday. So much so that when a new singer or group appears, they should consider themselves lucky if they live to see their comeback mini album, which typically consists of four songs and only one of those songs is promoted.
"Keep them talking, that's the game," says PR expert JJ French in "St. Trinian's", but at least in this case with Infinite and Kim Doyeon, perhaps I'm the only one who doesn't get the drift.
Back in September, Doyeon topped Twitter trending topics for her tweets which insinuated that she was dating Myungsoo and posting pictures allegedly of her and Myungsoo together. Then Woollim released a statement saying that Myungsoo and Doyeon were just friends, triggering Inspirits to accuse the poor girl of being an attention seeker.
Woollim eventually came clean about Myungsoo and Doyeon dating after the girl tweeted that Inspirits (or should I say those who are half Inspirit and half sasaeng) stole petrol from her car, threw garbage at her office and even threw bottles at her. She threatened to bring this to court.
You might want to think well Myungsoo is 21 (22 in Korean age) and Doyeon works and drives, so she's at least Myungsoo's age, why not let them date. And let's applaud Myungsoo for being able to squeeze a bit of personal life into his crazy gruelling schedule.
Except...is that really the case? Was Woollim's confirmation that the Infinite visual was dating really an act of coming clean?
When Inspirits first became aware of Kim Doyeon in late September, Infinite was in the midst of the OGS' Asian leg. Also, on the very same date that Doyeon topped trending topics for the first time (September 26), Infinite released "Request", a single for their Samsung promotion campaigns. And let's look at other things surrounding the revelation of the two Kims' relationship. Last week, Woollim released two teasers of "Day and Night", a comeback single of their duo Tasty. Also last week, Infinite won "Worldwide Performer" and "Best Male Group" (beating Shinee and EXO from K-pop industry titan SM) at the 2013 M-Net Asian Music Awards (MAMA 2013) in Hong Kong, and the boyband has just kickstarted the European part of OGS, with a concert in London being held tonight (yes a Wednesday.)
Aaand let's not forget that sometime in their US tour which has just wrapped, member Jang Dongwoo revealed that Infinite would release a new single just before the end of the year.
You don't have to be a Communications Science expert to have every right to suspect the whole Kim Doyeon brouhaha is nothing but a publicity stunt. What I don't understand is with all the new level of popularity brought by OGS world tour, endorsements (Infinite are brand ambassadors of Samsung and Natuur Pop, and this year they added Pepsi to the list), award wins, comeback albums and singles, why would Woollim create this "Myungsoo dating Doyeon" stunt to bring attention to any new Infinite release - or Tasty for that matter? Sure, Tasty is nowhere near as famous as their labelmate Infinite yet, having debuted just last year, but "Day and Night" is Tasty's second comeback of the year, which means the duo's popularity is rising. Can't they just "rise from the ashes" the way Infinite did when they debuted back in 2010, without the help of any scandal?
Or is it some kind of a warning that we shouldn't be shocked when Doyeon is revealed to be a K-pop trainee of any agency (not necessarily Woollim)?
If it is indeed a publicity stunt, then the biggest blame most likely lies on the cutthroat Korean music industry, in which new girlbands, boybands and solo artists emerge everyday. So much so that when a new singer or group appears, they should consider themselves lucky if they live to see their comeback mini album, which typically consists of four songs and only one of those songs is promoted.
"Keep them talking, that's the game," says PR expert JJ French in "St. Trinian's", but at least in this case with Infinite and Kim Doyeon, perhaps I'm the only one who doesn't get the drift.
Sunday, 10 November 2013
The confessional booth function of this blog
Hey babe.
Thanks for coming everyday, although you know I update once a month at best.
I don't feel right saying this in an e-mail.
And I know there will other, possibly better opportunities to say this.
But my heart wants to do it now and it thinks there's no better opportunity.
You're one of the best things that have ever happened to me, despite the weird stuff that have been going on in the past 11 years.
And it's one of my best decisions to let you run free, be yourself.
It doesn't matter whether you will come to me at the end.
Just the fact that you've stayed with me for nearly 12 years is enough.
"I love you" is too cheesy, and I don't know if I'll ever get to hug you again.
But whatever life throws in the way, please know that I'm here for you.
Always.
Forever.
#youknowwhoyouare
Thanks for coming everyday, although you know I update once a month at best.
I don't feel right saying this in an e-mail.
And I know there will other, possibly better opportunities to say this.
But my heart wants to do it now and it thinks there's no better opportunity.
You're one of the best things that have ever happened to me, despite the weird stuff that have been going on in the past 11 years.
And it's one of my best decisions to let you run free, be yourself.
It doesn't matter whether you will come to me at the end.
Just the fact that you've stayed with me for nearly 12 years is enough.
"I love you" is too cheesy, and I don't know if I'll ever get to hug you again.
But whatever life throws in the way, please know that I'm here for you.
Always.
Forever.
#youknowwhoyouare
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)