Looking back on After School

Several hours ago, it was announced that Jung Ah, the last remaining original member of After School, will be graduating. This post is dedicated to my all time favourite group and will be about my journey as a fan. But Kahi's solos will be on a separate post :)

A long time ago in 2010, I was starting to really get into k-pop after watching Adam Couple on We Got Married and was listening to various songs I found on youtube. I remember watching the Bang MV and constantly replaying it because of that glorious bridge (+ hip shaking). But I wasn't a fan yet.
One of the best Bang performances. 

Spazzing over Ha Ji Won

My exams are finally over!!! Just in time for me to write a spazz post about my favourite Korean actress, Ha Ji Won to coincide with her birthday and the start of her new show, The Time We Were Not In Love.

I first watched her in Secret Garden which I loved, but mostly for Hyun Bin. I didn't care too much about Gil RaIm ><
Then in 2012, she acted in King 2 Hearts which had massive popularity on Dramabeans. I watched that, then followed it with classics What Happened In Bali, Damo and Hwang Jini, partly because these were so highly rated and partly because I wanted to watch more and more of Ha Ji Won. After watching all her dramas since Damo, I proceeded to watch almost every movie she's been in. I think her drama hits are more consistent than her movie hits - I loved Duelist and Closer To Heaven, but hated 100 Days with Mr Arrogant.

Spazzing over BoA + SMTown World Tour 3 in Singapore

With BoA releasing her 8th album to celebrate her 15th anniversary since debut this week, it seems apt to dedicate a post to one of my favourite female soloists. (She'll be THE favourite if Kahi didn't leave After School to become a soloist too.)

I first heard of BoA when I was a kid. She debuted at a tender age of 13 in 2000, and gained massive popularity in Japan, Korea and even Asia when she was still in her teens. I clearly remember in 2006, when she released her Made In Twenty album, I was exclaiming to my brother 'What?! She's only 20 years old?! But she's been around FOREVER!!' Because of her insane success in the early 00s, she remains a household name here.

Spazzing over Rui En

 

Rui En is a Singaporean actress cum singer. She has also been my idol since I was 13 years old.

I first started watching her in dramas in 2004 (I was 9, but somehow I can still remember) in a show called My Mighty-in-laws where she was still young, inexperienced, and honestly not very good at acting. Her Chinese pronunciation was terrible despite debuting in Taiwan as a singer. But I thought that she was quite pretty.
In 2005, she acted in a few more Channel 8 dramas, and gained her first leading role in A Promise for Tomorrow. At that time, she had already become my favourite Channel 8 actress...because she was pretty hah. What does a 10 year old know about acting?

Med School + May/June 2014 - Seoul & Tokyo (Part 3) + Bonnie & Clyde Musical starring Kahi

My posts are getting more and more sparse because exams are coming up in 1.5 months time! We are the uni course the ends the latest in Singapore....or maybe the world. I'm also quite sure we study for the longest period of time. The academic year starts in August and only ends in late June for us :( Our holidays are pretty pathetic too. 2 weeks in December, 1 week each in September and March, and 1 month in July. So we study for a total of 10 months, while those in London study for 5 months? We only go to school for about 3 times a week on average though, due to our unique system of Team Based Learning (TBL), where we study at home though video lectures and come to school for 'quizzes'. I was initially quite apprehensive about this system but have come to love it a lot. No more worries about not catching what the lecturer said! Literally study at your own pace!
Med school has been pretty great for me so far but the pressure is only going to increase from now with our first finals coming up and the eventual progression into clinical years. But I love what I study and cannot wait to use my knowledge to benefit others so all the hard work is worthwhile.

It's Labour Day today + weekends + no school on Monday so it's technically a long and relaxing weekend...but nope. I've got a summative reflections due on 11th May and Anatomy Spots test on the same day. Plus continuous, never ending preparation for TBLs.

But I have some time to write my final post about the Seoul & Tokyo trip in 2014.