Lee Jong Suk is awarded Dae-Sang for 2016 MBC Drama Awards.

Last year 2015, the drama with diverse personalities Kill Me, Heal Me won the Drama of the year including its main actor Ji Sung grabbing the Grand Prize Award (Dae-Sang). The year 2016 sees the drama W: Two World taking home many awards. Ji Sung presented the Dae-Sang award to the Lee Jong Suk for being the main lead in W:Two World.

Considering that Jong Suk won the top awards but his speech was rather short and simple when he took the awards...probably he was just stoked and didn't know what to say.
And to be honest, UEE just looked like a skeleton. She looks haggard and unhealthy. 

Congratulations to all the winners for this year! :D

 

Dae-Sang: Lee Jong Suk
Drama of the Year: W:Two World
Best Actor Mini Series: Lee Jong Suk (W)
Best Actress Mini Series: Han Hyo Joo (W)
Best Actor in a Special Project Drama: Lee Seo Jin (Marriage Contract)
Best Actress in a Special Project Drama: UEE (Marriage Contract)
Best Actor Series Drama: Lee Sang Woo (Happy Home)
Best Actress Series Drama: Kim So Yeon (Happy Home)
Excellent Award Actor Mini Series: Seo In Guk (Shopping Louis)
Excellent Award Actress Mini Series: Lee Sung Kyung (Weightlifting Fairy)
Excellent Award Actor Mini Special Project: Seo Ha Jun (Flower Prison)
Excellent Award Actress Mini Special Project: Jin Se Yeon (Flower Prison)
Excellent Actor Series Drama: Sohn Ho Jun (Blow Breeze)
Excellent Actress Series Drama: Im Ji Yeon (Blow Breeze)
Golden Acting Award Male: Kim Eui Sung (W), Jung Jun Ho (Flower Prison), 
                                             Lee Pil Mo (Happy Home)
Golden Acting Award Female: Im Se Mi, Kim Ji Ho, Lee Hwi Hyang
New Rookie Actor Award: Nam Joo Hyuk (Weightlifting Fairy), 
                                          Ryu Jun Yeol (Lucky Romance)
New Rookie Actress Award: Jo Bo-Ah (Monster), Nam Ji Hyun (Shopping Louis)
Best Couple Award: Lee Jong Suk and Han Hyo Joo (W)

Singers shine in 2016 KBS Music Awards.

Park Bo Gum and AOA's Seolhyun hosted the 2016 KBS Music Awards.
As per the usual no awards are given out for the 3 big broadcasting stations especially on 
the Music Awards category.
                             

The events are mostly filled with dancing, singing, entertainment and performances from various singers and pop groups.

Among present for the 2016 KBS Music Awards are EXO, BTS, Red Velvet, Seventeen, I.O.I, GFriend, TWICE, Davichi, INFINITE, CN Blue, EXID, Hwang Chi Yeol, BAP, ASTRO, NCT Dream, Cosmic Girls..etc. Also performed were the longest running boy band of all time- Shinhwa as they celebrated their 18th anniversary performing their big hits such as Perfect Man and Brand New. The special stage performance was for female singer Uhm Jung Hwa who conquered the stage well. 

 

All the best to the performing artists, and we wish them a great new year ahead 2017. 

Jo In Sung, Jung Woo Sung VS. Hyun Bin, Yoo Hae Jin movie premieres.

'The King 더 킹 ' (director PD Han Jae-rim) starring Jo In-sung and Jung Woo Sung will be released on the same day as "Confidential Assignment 공조'  starring Hyun Bin and Yoo Hae Jin (director PD Kim Sung Hoon)

The King will be released on January 18th 2017. The distributor film CJ Entertainment will also release Confidential Assignment film on the same day. Four big A-star actors such will be running the shows in the local cinemas come this New Year.

'The King', Face Reader (2013) and The Show Must Go On (2007) were all directed by PD Han Jae Rim. This time in The King- actor Jo In Sung plays as Tae Soo who is a brilliant prosecutor but wants to wield his power and that's when he meets Kang Shik played by Jung Woo Sung. Supporting actors include Bae Sung Woo, Kim Eui Sung, Ryu Jun Yeol and Kim Ah Joong. 

'The King' first trailer has proven to be one of the best anticipated films in January next year, recording 7.17 million views. It is also interesting to know that Jo In-sung is returning to the big screen after nine years. The last film he did was Frozen Flower in 2008. 



Meanwhile Hyun Bin is collaborating with Yoo Hae Jin with the story plot on investigation between a North Korean detective and South Korean detective. Hyun Bin plays the detective Chul Ryung hailing from a special unit and the South Korean life-style detective Jin-tae played by Yoo are also on the mission to hunt down the boss of a North Korean refugee crime organization. Also supporting the movie is Kim Joo Hyuk, Jang Young Nam and Lee Dong Hwi. 

Yoo Jae Suk wins the 14th time Dae-sang in MBC Entertainment Awards.

Comedian Yoo Jae Suk (44) has won the 2016 MBC Entertainment Grand Prize. 

Yoo has won the 'Dae-Sang' prize at the MBC Entertainment Awards ceremony held at the MBC office in Mapo-gu, Seoul on 29th December, after defeating other contenders Kim Gura, Kim Seung Joo and Jung Jun Ha. Yoo has succeeded in earning the 14th time for this award- the greatest ever achiever of all time. He received six awards from MBC (including one for the Infinite Challenge), five for SBS, two for KBS, and one for Baeksang.

Yoo Jae Suk said, "Once a singer mentioned this may be the oldest time we have, but it is the youngest day of the remaining time.' I will work harder for the future. Through history, I realized again that the people of the country are the people. I hope that a few people do not walk down the path of flowers. I hope all the people can walk down the road pf flowers next year."

Yoo was rated as one of the best performers of the year by directing the MBC entertainment program "Infinite Challenge" in line with the so-called "National MC" title.

Jung Jun Ha of Infinite Challenge was also a candidate for prominence with Yoo to receive the Dae-Sang award. 

On the other hand, Infinite Challenge was awarded the Best Entertainment Program of the Year voted from the audience. The program PD Kim Tae Ho said, "I do not think it's a hard time to worry about items like these days, but it's a time when entertainment is not an issue. I will do my best to meet everyone's expectation week after week. Thank you."

Winner List:

▲ Dae-Sang= Yoo Jae Suk
▲ Entertainment program of the year=  Infinite Challenge
▲ Variety Man Grand Prize: Jung Jun-ha
▲ Variety Women's Grand Prize = Lee Gook Ju
▲ Music / Talk Show Man Grand Prize = Kim Seung Joo
▲ Variety Woman Excellence Award = Park Na-rae
▲ Variety Division Male Excellence Prize = Heo Gyeong Hwan
▲ Music · Talk Show Women's Excellence Prize = Solbi
▲ Music / Talk Show Men's Excellence Prize = Yoo Hyeong Suk
▲ Music · Talk show Female Rookie Award = Shin Go Eun

▲ Music · Talk Show Male Rookie Award = Han Dong Geun
▲ Variety Female New Actress = Lee Sun-young
▲ Variety Male New Actor = Park Chan-ho
▲ Radio Category Rookie Award = Kang Tae, Park Soo-Hong
▲ Radio Excellence Award = Kim Shin-young, Kim Hyun-chul
▲ Best in radio category = Bae Chul Su 
▲ Writer's Prize of the Year = Lee Hye-young ('Real Man 2')
▲ PD Award = Kim Gura
▲ Best Teamwork Award = Night - The Mask King Singer
▲ Best Couple Award = Solar, Eric Nam
▲ Singer Special Award: Ha Hyun Woo
▲ Special award in music / talk show = Yoon Jong Shin
▲ Special Prize in Variety Category: Jeon Hyun Moo
▲ Achievement Award: Late Go Bong Su
▲ Popularity Award = Jo Se Ho, Chao Lu, Han Hye Jin

▲ MC Award = Baek Ji Young, Sung Si Kyung, Yoo Se Yoon

Netizens compare Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart vs. Hwarang: The Beginning.

KBS's new sageuk drama- Hwarang: The Beginning has kicked off 2 weeks ago and yet to gain higher ratings from viewers. However Netizens were busy comparing the drama Hwarang with SBS sageuk drama Moon Lovers.

What I can see the people were comparing are:

1. Set in sageuk period -- Hwarang in Shilla kingdom and Moon Lovers in Goryeo dynasty.
2. Heroine surrounded by a bunch of good looking young men.
3. Bad acting from idol group members
4. Typical cheesy romantic relationship between two heroes and one heroine.

However I can see there are many differences in the two dramas.
Hwarang projects a livelier and bubbly environment while Moon Lovers is always dark and filled with jealousy and greed for the throne. Both have different story lines and plots nonetheless the leads are always eye catching.

 Park Seo Joon and Park Hyung Shik as the main leads in Hwarang definitely has caught my attention. I have to say both of them have improved tremendously in their acting skills. Nothing beats Lee Jun Ki for his flawless acting as Wang So and Kang Haneul's gaze is intensive as well in Moon Lovers.

I must praise that Go A-Ra's acting is definitely better than IU (Lee Ji-Eun). Go A-Ra's character A-Ro is brave, intelligent and cheerful. IU fails to portray Hae-Soo's role from Moon Lovers and her acting is definitely flat. She fails miserably compared to Liu Shi Shi in the Chinese version's Scarlet Heart. Definitely a no-no for her expression and everything. It is so lacking that it couldn't gain the attention from viewers. 


As for the secondary roles, I'd think Moon Lovers have scored a bit for Ji Soo and Nam Joo Hyuk's characters for the 14th and 13th Prince. Though I think Baekhyun is great in EXO but he has a lot to brush up on acting. Hong Jong Hyun's evil role was too short and ended quickly with his untimely death. In Hwarang- the scriptwriters have brought in Choi Min Ho, Do Ji Han, BTS's V for the supporting roles which I find quite delightful. The bantering among Minho and Jihan with fierce competition among the two have brought it to a new level. 

The costumes in both dramas are definitely a main factor to be looking at. Goryeo dynasty costumes are bright and way too colorful to an extent that it just didn't look too right. The Shilla era was definitely a nicer match- more towards Chinese culture. The Hwarang costumes are nice and blends with their physiques. 

Now to promotional poster- I think the Hwarang posters are way too cheesy and flowery.
I rather have the shots with them all wearing black or wielding their swords in a manly way.
I must give credit to Moon Lovers promotional poster as it defines Lee Jun Ki's features.

I started the first episode of Moon Lovers but before mid way I gave up as the storyline was not up to what I've seen from the Chinese version. I also started Hwarang the first episode but kept continuing to the 4th episode where I cannot wait to see how Sam Mek Jong will reveal himself as King Jinheung to the rest of the Hwarang members. The cutesy interaction between Sun Woo and A-Ro is lovely. 

EXO tops sales records with 2.13 million.

Pop group EXO has proved to themselves, their fans and public that they are the number 1 idol boy band in South Korea. According to SM Entertainment, the cumulative sales of their records hit 2.13 million.

EXO has sold a total of 1,170,000 copies of its regular 3rd album 'Project', which was released in June, and 'LOTTO', a regular 3-volume package in August. A total of whopping 425,000 copies of the special winter album "For Life" released this month was sold as well.

In addition to this, EXO-CBX's first mini-album Hey Mama!- from the first unit of EXO has sold 276,000 pieces, and member Lay's first solo album, "LOSE CONTROL" also sold at 260,000 copies on the 27th of the same cumulative sales volume.

As the music market industry has been reorganized, the sales volume of album per group has exceeded 50,000. In particular, EXO has recorded the album sales volume of 1, 2, and 3 albums exceeding over 1 million copies.

Since 2013, the boy group has won the grand prize at various annual awards ceremony. This year, at the Mnet Asian Music Award (MAMA), EXO has won for the fourth consecutive year -Dae-Sang award as well as the Melon Music Award (MMA) and Asian Artist Awards (AAA).

Their concert tickets were mostly sold out with their third concert of the year- Exoplanet # 3 - The Exodus. They have also performed at Osaka Kyocera Dome performance on November 11. 

In addition, this year main vocalist Baekhyun collaborated a due with Miss A's Suzy entitled Dream. Besides that, the group showed their new dancing movements and new single Dancing King in a special project with Infinite Challenge main MC Yoo Jae Suk. Fellow member D.O (Kyungsoo)'s film 'Brother' with actor Jo Jung Suk has attracted 3 million viewers at the local cinemas. 

Coming 29th December, EXO is expected to appear for the 2016 KBS Music Festival and 2016 MBC Music Festival on 31st December.

Shin Dong Yub wins Dae-Sang for SBS Entertainment Awards 2016.

Emcee Shin Dong Yub takes home the Dae-Sang (Grand Prize) award for 2016 SBS Entertainment Awards.

He hosts various programs including My Naughty Son, Hello Counselor and many more.

The ceremony was held at Mapo-gu in Seoul along with nominees such as Yoo Jae Suk, Kim Gu Ra, Kim Guk Jin and Kim Byung Man.

Shin  has been working on the SBS TV entertainment program 'My Naughty Son' since August, so he has shown good rapport with guests without any broadcast experience and also stabilized the program.

As to why Running Man didn't win many awards this year- speculations had it with members leaving the program and the scandal has happened. 

▲ Dae-Sang: Shin Dong Yub
▲ Most Excellent :Hong Yoon-hwa (Comedy), Kim Gun-mo (Talk show)
                                  Lee Kwang Soo (Variety)
▲ Excellence Prize : Kim Jin-gon, Kim Jung-hwan (comedy), Jeon Hyun Moo, 
                                   Sung Dae-hyun (Talk show), Seo Jang-hoon (Variety)
▲ Program of the Year Award: My Naughty Son, The Its Know
▲ Star of the year award : Park Jin Young
▲ Male Rookie Award: Kangnam, Yoo Byun Jae
▲ Female New Artist Award: Lee Yeon Soo, Gong Seung Yeon, Jung Yeon
▲ Radio DJ Award: Park So Hyun
▲ Producer Award: Kim Joon Hyun, Park Soo Hong 
▲ Special Award: Chef Baek Jong Won

▲ Broadcasting Artist Prize: Ok Soo Young, Park Jin Ah, Lee Jae Guk

1N2D Kim Jong Min wins KBS Entertainment Award Grand Prize.

Singer Kim Jong Min becomes the main highlight of the day after winning the 2016 KBS Entertainment Award- Dae Sang (Grand Prize) during the grand ceremony at Yeuido.

The other winning nominations were emcee Yoo Jae Suk, Lee Hwi Jae, Shin Dong Yub and Kim Jun Ho.

Kim Jong Min who is currently the permanent cast member for Season 3 for 1 Night 2 Days. He is the only original member since 2007 when the program started until the 3rd season. He is seen as the funniest member and received high evaluation marks for appearing continuously 9 years in the program every weekend.

Jong Min mentioned the audience is more important than the grand prize award. He knows he is lacking in certain areas but he will definitely work harder to improve his weaknesses.

1 Night 2 Days also became the best program - most voted by audience this year under KBS station. Under the direction of new PD Yu Il Yong, the program has become the most honorable show.

The best male and female in the comedy category were won by Yoo Min Sang and Lee Soo Ji for Gag Concert. In the talk show category, the best female and male category is Kim Sook ('Slam Sisters Dunk') and Jae Jae Hyung ('Immortal Song 2'). Overall here are the winners:

▲ Dae-Sang (Grand Prize): Kim Jong Min
▲ Best Viewers Program: 1 Night 2 Days

= Comedy Division: Yoo Min-Sang, Lee Soo Ji
= Talk & Show Division: Kim Sook, Jung Jae Hyung
= Variety Division: Ra Mi Ran, Lee Dong Gook

▲ Excellence Prize
= Comedy Division: Song Young-gil, Lee Hyun-jung
= Talk & Show Division: Jeon Hyun Moo
= Variety Division: Ki Tae Young Lee Beom Soo

▲ ROOKIE
= Comedy division: Kim Seung Hye, Hong Hyun Ho
= Talk & Show Category: Eom Hyung Kyung, Choi Tae Joon
= Variety Division: Min Hyo Rin, Yoon Shi Yoon
▲ Radio DJ Award: Park Myung Soo
▲ Broadcasting Artist Prize: Yoon Ki Young, Jang Sun Young, Ji Hyun Suk

▲ Producer Special Award: Park Jin Young

1 Night 2 Days Wintry Flower Boy Camp (Part 2)

1N2D casts continues with their part 2 of Flower Boy Winter Camp at Muju at Namdae Stream. The stream is considered one of the most beautiful and unpolluted streams in South Korea. After the quick lunch from the gondola ride, everyone is still hungry. The guys were hoping for a morning wake up call from Go A-Ra however their hopes were just frail. Junho asks Park Seo Joon whom does he hope for, he said in his military days he was so into Girls' Generation GEE. However nowadays his preference has shifted to TWICE while Park Hyung Shik chooses AOA. Choi Min Ho prefers actress Han Hyo Joo as she is plain and her smiles sends all hearts fluttering around. 

PD Yu tells them they will be playing for dinner game. Each 4 members board the rafts to the main platform in the middle of the cold icy river. Junho complains the minute Defconn boards any raft, it starts to sway and sinks aside causing his pants to be all wet! They will be playing diving game. Each guest will pick a 1N2D member challenging them to Leapfrog game. The loser will have to dive into the water. First up was Minho and Taehyun. Taehyun could barely save himself but jumped gracefully into the water. He said the water was so cold and any illness would be cured instantly. Next was Seo Joon against Jong Min. As usual he was so unlucky he lost again to Jong Min that he had to dive into the river. Hyung Shik challenges Jun Ho but he fell into the trap as the devil nudged and cheated a bit! LOL! Taehyun and Seo Joon laughed their hearts out seeing how Defconn fell into the river in his V-trademark dive. Minho decides to challenge Junho for his tricks however Jongmin was hinting to Junho asking him to push Minho down the water. PD Yu decides that Minho and Shi Yoon were the last standing winners to have their proper BBQ dinner. 

Each of them still had few pieces of pork to grill along with rice and kimchi for dinner. Next round was sleeping indoors or outdoors. The losers will have to sleep in the tent pitched on the main platform raft in the river! *Shocked* Their face expressions were priceless as nobody has ever slept on the water before especially in this cold weather. So they need to form team. Hwarang team vs Mr. Ugly team. Hwarang team consists of Hyung Shik, Minho, Taehyun and Shi Yoon while Seo Joon got the rest of the members. He still cannot believe he has been so unlucky ever since he started filming in 1N2D. Last game is Flower Boy Dance Music Box. They were given a pair of flower shoes to wear while the staffs secretly set up 4 boxes all taped up. One of the boxes contained water. They have to dance and picked the box to jump onto. First up was unlucky Shi Yoon, followed by Junho and Seo Joon again. They played most of SHINee's songs to which Minho gracefully did his choreography while the rest just danced restlessly. So Mr. Ugly team loses and Hwarang team gets to sleep indoor in heated rooms. Taehyun asks if they can cast Seo Joon next year as a permanent cast member since he's fit for entertainment industry. Immediately he rang up Seo Joon's agency and spoke to his manager.

Seo Joon still dumbfounded wondered if he didn't do well in acting, he knows he has hope in variety programs. Ha ha! The losing team heads to the floating tent on the raft. He apologized for having all the rest to sleep outside with him. They felt bad too however they knew he was being nice and made the episode funnier. The next morning, the winning team woke up early from the morning call song and rushed to stomp away at the floating raft.

 

Defconn immediately got up with Junho whinging his whole body is frozen from the weather. Soon they were headed back to the shore however their raft were stuck. Junho asked Hyungshik to throw in a stone however he threw a whole big rock splashing water onto them. The raft started to sway, dunk sending off Defconn, Taehyun, Jongmin and Junho into the cold water. Seo Joon couldn't help but laughed out together with Minho and Shi Yoon who were still on the main platform. Junho and Jongmin were pissed off they were all wet all due to Hyung Shik's fault! 

And this wraps up the Flower Boy Winter Camp at Namdae. 

Sweet romance blooms for Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo.

At last viewers of the lighthearted romantic comedy drama- Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo is treated with sweet romantic moments from Kim Bok Joo ♥ Jung Joon Hyung.

Bok Joo (played by Lee Sung Kyung) has finally opened up her heart for her childhood friend Joon Hyung (played by Nam Joo Hyuk). At the start she was very startled after Joon Hyung confessed that he liked her as a woman. After going through a round of mishaps, Bok Joo realized that she relied so much on Joon Hyung and confirmed her feelings for him.

Bok Joo and Joon Hyung went to the amusement park with her fellow friends Nan Hee, Seon Ok and Tae Oh. It was one of Bok Joo's bucket list wish. Joon Hyung was rather annoyed hoping that it was only a date for the two instead it turns out to be a gathering. In fact he has the fear of heights to sit on the Viking ship. Not forgetting the other wish was sipping a drink together with a guy using two straws which brought the two closer again.

Bok Joo was feeling awkward having to share a drink with a guy to which Joon Hyung casually asked if her heart was beating fast? Feeling flustered, she angrily snapped back asking him to drink all of the cola. During the fireworks scene at night, Joon Hyung held onto her hand and asked if her heart is beating fast again? Annoyed, she nagged at him stating he's a lunatic and making her having heart attack all day, so she decided to push him away.

Obviously Joon Hyung didn't give up easily so he held her hand again and this time she couldn't wriggle off his grip. When Bok Joo's father collapsed and was admitted to the hospital, Joon Hyung was there to help and comfort her. On one snowy night, Bok Joo decided to tell him the truth about her feelings. Indeed she felt he was someone special to her, not just a special friend but also a man. She even surprised him with a kiss. Joon Hyung was taken back however he returned back her kiss. 

It was the start of their romance for the lead couple. At last Bok Joo is having a guy who likes her for what she is. She is walking towards the path of happiness and sweet relationship. However will their romantic relationship be a smooth one? 

And not forgetting, since Ji Soo appeared as cameo as the warehouse guy in the earlier episode, Girls Generation Seohyun makes her cameo in the recent episode as Jung Jae Yi's first love. During a reunion, another senior bloke annoyed the hell out of Jae Yi that he used his fist to knock him down shocking the rest of the friends. 

Kang Dong Won and Han Hyo Joo in new movie- Golden Slumber.

Actor Kang Dong Won and actress Han Hyo Joo are confirmed to film the new movie entitled 'Golden Slumber- 골든 슬럼버' to be directed by PD No Dong Suk after CJ Entertainment has announced on 22nd December.

The film will also have co-stars such as Kim Eui Sung, Kim Seung Gyun, Kim Dae Myung and others.


The film is an original work by Japanese novelist Isaka Kotaro. It depicts the story of an ordinary courier guy whom was chased around by cops after being identified as an assassin by huge power behind the scene. Kang Dong Won plays the courier guy Gunwoo and Han Hyo Joo plays the college alumnus and radio producer Sun young.


Gunwoo's friend and lawyer Dong Gyu is played by Kim Dae Myung, and another computer geek friend Kim Cheol will be played by Kim Seung Gyun. Kim Eui Sung plays the questioning man 'Mr.Min'.

PD No Dong Suk has directed several films such as If You Were Me 3 (2006), Boys of Tomorrow (2006) and Haunted Obsession (2011).


The film is scheduled to go into full-scale shooting early 2017.

Jaejoong, Shindong, Sungmin are out of army end of the year.

All of the members of the Hallyu and K-pop group members are out of the military services and will be active again at the end of the year to the beginning of 2017.

Fellow JYJ member Kim Jae Joong, will perform a ceremony at the Gyeong Yong 55th Division, which is serving in the morning on 21st Dec, according to his agency, CJES Entertainment.

Following that the youngest JYJ member Kim Jun Su will join the musical "Death Note" rehearsal in January next year. After that he is headed to Nonsan Army Training Center in Chungnam on February 9th 2017. After finishing the training, Jun Su will serve at the Gyeonggi Provincial Public Relations Group.

Another member of JYJ, Park Yoo Chun who is serving as a public service employee, is scheduled to finish off his service in August 2017.

Super Junior members Shin Dong and Sung Min who is serving in the 3rd Army Division and the 17th Division respectively will be finishing their service on 23rd and 30th December. On the other hand, Super Junior youngest member Kyuhyun will enlist the next year. 

The other SJ members- Eunhyuk, Siwon and Donghae are currently active in military services.

Big Bang member T.O.P will be enlisting the same day as Kim Jun Su at Nonsan.

Review on Waterfront Restaurant at Southgate, Melbourne.

As December 2016 comes to an end, we are an inch nearer to the closing down of our company's Melbourne office. So it was high time the Procurement department head out for a nice sumptuous lunch - we splurged it on the company credit card. After all we have been saving for the past few years not spending anything, it is time for them to treat us back.

We booked via phone for table for three people at Waterfront Restaurant located at Southgate in Melbourne. The restaurant is very posh looking, overlooking the Yarra River and Flinders Street station. Its extensive menu of wine, food and beverages got us all hooked. However my colleague and I decided to go for seafood. We knew we won't go wrong. For entree, we ordered the Dragon Roll (AU$28) for around 8 pieces of fresh salmon sushi roll topped with crab meat, seaweed, fresh wasabi and soy sauce. 

Mains, we ordered Pan seared Tasmanian salmon fillet, with fennel risotto, scallop, green pea and a saffron & lemon glaze priced at AU$39 and Grilled mulloway fillet with king prawn, broccolini, slow roasted tomato, chili & turmeric sauce priced at AU$44.

The fish came in a nice portion and freshly cooked. The tastes were exquisite and fits well into the mouth. I had to say the mulloway fillet was lovely with the big king prawn as its partner. The turmeric sauce blends well, not spicy and has that coconut smell. Love it!
For sides, we only managed to order Chunky thick cut chips with aiolis sauce A$10 and Sauteed asparagus with crispy pancetta A$12.

As for desserts, we wouldn't miss a thing. I had the Lemon parfait, honeycomb topped with a chocolate & pistachio soil, finished with lemon curd A$13.50 but it was a small portion and I wouldn't say it was worth it at all. The tastes were alright but too little.

                                       

My colleagues ordered the Mandarin & passion fruit cheesecake, passion fruit sorbet and Sticky date pudding, butterscotch sauce, vanilla ice cream. Coffee and tea are priced at A$4.50 each.

Overall the ambiance is great, service is nice and lovely location.
I'd recommend for company dinners, anniversaries, farewell or birthday parties.

Price: 3/5 stars
Food quality: 4/5 stars
Service: 4/5 stars
Overall: 4/5 stars

Running Man program to wrap up in early 2017.

As much as everyone loved to have the original casts of the popular SBS variety program Running Man, it looks like such thing will never happen.


I remembered clearly I used to start watching Running Man in 2010 when it wasn't a hit program with casts of Yoo Jae Suk, Song Ji Hyo, Kim Jong Kook, Kang Gary, Ji Suk Jin, Lee Kwang Soo and Song Joong Ki. The guests were rather plain but it started out quite funny with race missions and slowly involving name tag eliminations along with the bells hide & seek. Soon there was the Find the Guests mission, landmark missions with special episodes featuring story-telling missions. 

Each and every original member has their own nicknames stuck to them for the past 7 years. We watch and grow with them together. It's rather difficult to not see them anymore since it's one of the much loved and hype variety program from South Korea and has influenced many fans within Asia and Europe as well. They have ventured to film overseas such as Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Dubai UAE, Taiwan and even in Australia.

As a matter of fact when Song Joong Ki left the show in 2011, I cringe but stayed on to continue watching my bias Jae Suk. Surprisingly the PD did well in casting them together and bringing diverse types of guests from A-list actors to singers and comedians.

I have to admit some of my favorite episodes were with soccer player Park Ji Sung, actor Park Seo Joon, Jung Woo Sung, Ji Sung, Ji Jin Hee and Ji Chang Wook.

Running Man has made a name for itself with fan meeting in Asia, selling its merchandises online and on tour, it has definitely remain a big impact for fans that the program is coming to an end in February 2017.

We are definitely going to miss our Grasshopper Jae Suk, Tiger Kook, Miss Mong Ji Hyo, Big nose brother Suk Jin, Pororo Haha, Dumb and dumber Kwang Soo and Gary. 
The "Monday Couple" has already ended when Gary decided to concentrate more on his singing career at the end of October 2016.

Again fans were hit with news of the production team terminating Jong Kook and Ji Hyo's term with RM without their knowledge. It seems that RM is quite in a big chaotic mess.
So the casts sat down and came to an agreement to end the program together with happy memories on February 2017. 

I was a bit lucky in a way that I managed to see some of their casts when they came down to Melbourne to film the Australia special with guests Rain and Kim Woo Bin. 

As the year comes closer to an end, we know we will be bidding farewell to Running Man program and its cast. We thanked them for being so lively, cheerful and brought us so much laughter' and tears for the past 7 years.

First thoughts on Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth.

KBS has definitely lined up a bunch of pretty flower boys from idol groups for this sageuk fusion period drama- Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth. First episode was aired on Monday 19th with star studded cast. Park Seo Joon being the eldest in the Hwarang team plays as Mu Myeong- a low birth peasant who who becomes one of the most elite warrior.

Park Hyung Sik is the young King Jinheung but he goes with the name of Sam Mek Jong to gain strength and skills as a leader in the future. He is always in disguised, living out of palace and nobody has seen the real face of the King. 

The only love line we get to see is the pretty Ah Ro played by Go A-Ra who is bubbly and cheerful girl who helps Mu Myeong to his new position but meanwhile Sam Mek Jong constantly pursues on her. There is SHInee's Minho playing as the playboy Su Ho who is rich and handsome. The stuckup Ban Ryu played by Do Ji Han is stern and very competitive. 

During the Shilla kingdom era, Queen Dowager Ji So is very protective over her son Jinheung from potential threats and assassins. She instructed bodyguard Pa Oh to protect her son. She seeks the help from Wi Hwa Rang played by Sung Dong Il to form a group of elite bodyguards to protect the future King. Hesitant at first, however Wi Hwa Rang thinks its time for the Queen to entrust the throne to her son rather than power greedy. 

Hwarang existed in the Shilla era with a bunch of energetic male warriors who not only possessed good looks but they must be skillful in martial arts, music and literacy.

Lee Kwang Soo makes a good memorable cameo appearance in Hwarang as Mu Myeong's best friend Mak Mun from the same poor village. Together the two ventured into the city meeting the most notorious bullies. However Mu Myeong always stand up for his buddies and in result Mak Mun died after trying to shield Mu Myeong from being stabbed.

I'd give it a go for this drama since I liked Seo Joon and Hyung Shik's characters.
It's interesting to see how the story unfolds for the energetic warriors not knowing among them is the young ruler of Shilla. 

Singer of the Year Im Chang Jung followed by TWICE and Jang Yun Jung.

Singer Im Chang Jung and rookie girl group TWICE were ranked as the first and second singer of the year.

Korea Gallup website mentioned that Lim Chang Jung won the first place with 11.8% approval rating after been voted as "Singer who shone the year of 2016".

Lim debuted as an actor in 1990's "Southern Army". In 1995, he released his first album 'To Me to Me' 이미 나에게로 and debuted as a singer.

Since then, he did acting and singing/ His performances has been excellent. In his 13th album 'I'M' released in September this year, his own song 'Love I Committed 내가 저지른 사랑' gained popularity and spiked up in the position. 

TWICE was followed by Lim with 9.9% approval rating. TWICE, who made their debut in 'Graceful' in October last year, has come with hits such as 'Cheer up' and 'TT' which has massive success this year.They also won music awards at the end of the year, with record sales, streaming and music video. The girls are fresh, appealing with their age and youth. 

Third place goes to 'Trot Queen' Jang Yoon Jung (8.9%). In the second half of this year, MBC TV drama 'Blow Breeze' had Jang singing for the main theme song. 

Fourth place goes to EXO of (7.7%). Their title song 'Monster' of the 3rd album 'EX'ACT' announced in June this year has brought big topic abroad. In August, they sold more than 1 million copies of their third album repackaged album, 'Lotto', which was followed by triple Million Sellers in the first and second spot. EXO gains more prominent support particularly from teenage female fans. 

Fifth spot awarded to Girls' Generation 6.9% as the girl group didn't release much except doing solo activities. Leader Taeyeon has been on a steady track this year including 'Rain', 'Rain', '11: 11' while Tiffany and Hyeyeon released solo albums. Soo Young and YoonA were involved heavily in dramas. 

Veteran singer Lee Sun Hee at 6.4% meanwhile female vocalist Gummy enjoyed success from her contribution to two big drama OST- Descendants of the Sun and Moonlight Drawn by Clouds- 5.5%. Among the top 10 singers included GFriend, BTS, I.O.I, Kim Bum Soo, Jo Young Pil, Lee Moon Se, Park Hyo Shin...etc 

The favorite singers were differed by age category. EXO- teenage girls, TWICE for men in their teens and 20s, Lim Chang Jung for their 30s and 40s, and Jang Yoon-jung for their 50s.

Jeju Air and Song Joong Ki promotes winter travel images.

Aekyung Group affiliate Jeju Airlines launched its 2017 winter travel pictures with their main model/actor Song Joong Ki on the 20th December.

This release of Song Joong Ki's new pictorial features a warm-feeling attire on a winter trip and a variety of cabin service scenes from pilots and cabin crew uniforms.

In April 2016, Jeju Airlines selected Song Joong Ki because of his popularity in Asia, as a new face to expand its Asian market in April. Since then Jeju Air has been using print ads, various online and offline video images, and in-flight and in-flight advertising for airports and airplanes.

As of December, Jeju Air operates five domestic routes and 34 international routes to 24 cities in the Asia Pacific region.

Kyuhun and Song Minho joins tVN New Journey to the West Season 3.

tVN entertainment program 'New Journey to the West 3- 신서유기3 is set to broadcast on January 8th 2017 for the new year. 

In Season 3, comedians Kang Ho-dong, Lee Soo Gun, singer Eun Ji Won and actor Ahn Jae Hyun appeared for the previous season. The new members will include Super Junior's Kyuhun and WINNER's Song Min Ho.

On the poster of New Journey to the West 3 which was released on the day, Kyuhyun who newly joined has the role of  'Sun Wo Kong- Monkey God' with a radio on his shoulder and a rough look of Song Min Ho as Shā Wùjìng - one of the 3 disciples of the Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang. 


New Journey to the West is a travel program that reinterprets the Chinese classics with appearance of Monkey God, Sha Wujing in Season 1, which was only available online,. It has recorded about 53 million cumulative view while season 2, which combined online and TV, recorded 64 million cumulative views and an average audience rating of 4.6% (based on Nielsen Korea, paid platform).

Hwarang boys visit 1 Night 2 Days.

The 3 actors from the new KBS drama- Hwarang visits 1 Night 2 Days as their new guests.
A palanquin turned up at the nearby river bridge as Tae Hyun eagerly hopes for a female guest to turn up. The casts were only interested in seeing either the two female leads- Seo Yeo Ji or Go A-Ra. Unknown to them, PD Yu has already arranged 1 hour before the filming for Park Seo Jun, Park Hyung Shik and Choi Min Ho to blend in as part of the staff members.

As the palanquin edges closer towards the casts, Tae Hyun then realized 3 male guests started approaching them casually. There was nobody in the palanquin except posters of Go A-Ra. LOL! The men seem disinterested in having male guests in their show. Poor them...


However Defconn didn't seem to mind them at all. Today's episode is Flower Men Winter Camp. As everyone knows Park Seo Joon, Park Hyung Shik and Choi Min Ho are in the Hwarang drama. Tae Hyun reckons Hwarang boys are like Shi Yoon's clique- "Hwarang F4 vs Hwa-sang F4"! 

So they are to cast their vote on their own ranking themselves in terms of good looks. Surprisingly Seo Joon became the last one and he started pouting wondering if there was a hidden camera prank for him. He even lost out to Defconn and Jun Ho! Oh dear! His new nickname is Mr. Ugly and he had to stand the last on the line.

First game is jumping rope and in order each of them have to remove a piece of clothing and turn around. At first, Shi Yoon was the black hole but slowly turns out that Jun Ho was too excited swinging the rope around that it caught on either Jong Min or Min Ho's head. The casts and guests have to start removing layers of their clothes. Min Ho worries whether KBS will air this episode since they have to remove their t-shirts to the last barring their abs and body. Tae Hyun comfored them stating that they have been doing such thing for the past 3 years! Hah! The camera pans to where the 3 Hwarang boys were doing well in the jumping rope mission and they have well build solid bodies for their roles. They managed to skip off 2 games from the main board.

Next the bus took them to Mount Doegyu National Park. It has a ski resort, gondola cable car rides and mountains to 
trek around. Mt Doegyu lies at the ridges of Baekdudaegan. Luckily they have omitted the scenery game otherwise they have to hike from the base to the peak which will be a torturous mission! The trees were covered with snow and everyone lamented that winter is really here in South Korea. Everyone was dressed in thick parka, jackets, caps and thermals. PD Yu tells them 2nd game is throwing their show over the edge. The one who throws furthest will enjoy great lunch such as Chef Course Meal, Asia culinary, Healthy food for men and canteen set food.

Jun Ho and Jong Min were the first so they will be having Chef Course, Hyung Shik and Shi Yoon took the Asian cuisines, Defconn and Seo Joon chose the Healthy meals while Min Ho and Tae Hyun had no choice but to take the bento set. Each team have 15 minutes to eat their meal during the gondola ride. Turns out the last team were having more enjoyable food with hot soup. Everything was already served on the tray. The Chef Course took ages as they really have a chef sitting in the cable car preparing the dishes for them! Hyung Shik and Shi Yoon quickly chugged in the Vietnamese spring rolls to finish up in time.Meanwhile Defconn and Seo Joon were disappointed as they have 1 bowl of steamed marsh snails for 'healthy food'. It was bitter and bland so Seo Joon decided to skip it and gave up. Jong Min and Jun Ho were rushing the chef to sped up their dishes and they were astonished to see a a giant Russian lobster for their last course. They couldn't finish in time and grabbed the claws out from the gondola. Everyone envied them for their luxurious meal however they complained the chef was doing some Picasso art in the ride!

Tune in for next episode of Hwarang boys whether Park Seo Joon will be able to change his unlucky episodes in 1 Night 2 Days and live up to his flower boy image.