There’s Nothing Like A Liebster Award To Feel Loved

I first came across the Liebster Award while browsing through blogs when I was even more of a novice blogger than I am now. Don’t ask what blog I was reading at the time though, because I don’t remember. (I lack photographic memory, unlike my nominator muchadoaboutlove over at The Talking Cupboard.) What I do remember,  however, was thinking that I would never get a nomination myself, let alone have incredible people who stop by my blog and find what I say interesting. So when I just so happened to stop by The Talking Cupboard today (as I often do), seeing my blog in the nominations list was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever experienced. I nearly cried from the shock that my measly little blog had been noticed. Thank you muchadoaboutlove for making my day and being an awesome blogging friend (not that I actually know you or anything…). And to my readers, thank you for continuing to read what I write up when I have a splash of inspiration.

Unlikely Life Goal #245: Make an acceptance speech. √  Done.

The Liebster Award

For those who don’t know, “Liebster” is a German word for “beloved” or “dearest,” and can sometimes be “boyfriend.” The Liebster Award is of mysterious origins, but there are some basic rules for those who receive a nomination passed from blogger to blogger:

• Make a list of 11 Random Facts about yourself. 
  
• Answer the Questions that your nominator gave. 
  
• Nominate at least 5 more blogs for the award
  • Only nominate blogs that have under 200 followers.
  • Obviously let those blogs know that they’ve been nominated.
  • You can’t tag back bloggers.
• Come up with at least 5 questions for your nominees.
• Post the badge on your site.

So let’s get to it!

List #234357 of S.O.I — Eleven Random Facts About Myself

1. I have a horrendous problem with writing errors. No really, I do.  Every single time I read something I write, I find some wrong about it, be it a typo, a grammatical error, or a stylistic problem. Odd are, there’s one in this post sentence too. I have high standards for writing; the only problem is that I’m a hypocrite.
2. I’m a Lacto-vegetarian but that’s because my family has been for ages.
3. I take great pride in my amateur baking skills, my Vegetarian/Vegan Baking Skills that is.  Eggless baking is one of my favorite hobbies in the world, because there’s a lot of thinking involved. Eggs are probably the most versatile dessert making ingredient, and finding the best way to replace it is a challenge in itself that I thoroughly enjoy.  I’ve destroyed many a brownie over the years, but now I can make a one that’s as good as the original. I don’t claim to be the sole reason for this: it’s mostly thanks to VeganBaking.net. There are amazing vegan bakers over there, so check it out sometime. Chocolate Covered Katie (the picture above is hers)is a good vegan blog too.
4. My first manga was Fruits Basket. I even remember the day I found out the manga existed, back when I was in middle school. I asked my friend what she was reading, she told me, I went to the library to read it, and the rest is history. I actually hated Fruits Basket by the end, but I haven’t stopped enjoying mangas. I’m always looking out for manga recomendations, so please put that in the comments.
5. I have one and only one “bias” in K-pop, and that’s DBSK. What, you already knew that? Okay then, what about this? I never have considered myself a Cassiopeia. That’s mostly because I don’t like being in fanclubs, especially K-pop fanclubs.
6. I would gladly eat 80% Dark Chocolate. I like almost any kind of chocolate but white chocolate. My favorite is 60% Dark Chocolate, and I don’t like sugary “candy.”
7. I’m not a fan of beaches, but I like the ocean. As to why that is, I have no idea.
8. I like videogames, but I never play them. Most of the time it’s because I don’t have the console. When that can’t be used as an excuse, I admit I’m crappy at them.  Thank goodness for Visual Novels where I can’t fail.
9. I prefer tea over coffee and I actually don’t like coffee at all.  I should probably stop with these food facts soon, or this will become a food blog instead of a Asian-Ent blog.
10. I can sort of draw, but not as well as I hoped. I ended up joining a comic club at my school because I found out that these people are some of the most talented artists I’ve met. I hope to learn from them, and that I’ll soon improve from just drawing portraits of unrealistic women, to showing you guys interesting and realistic digital art.
11. I taught myself how to Crochet and Knit when I was in 6th grade. However, in all those years, I think I only completed 3 projects.

Wow. Those are really  boring facts.  I hope you didn’t fall asleep reading them.

Questions from muchadoaboutlove:

1. What was the hardest drama to move on from when it ended, i.e dealing with the craziest withdrawal symptoms?— Thank goodness I’ve never really experienced this much, since I only seem to watch really terrible dramas.  (See my drama list for proof) I’d have to say though that the one drama I think I had the hardest time getting over was The King 2 Hearts.  It was my favorite drama so far that I’ve seen while it was airing, and I was really sad to see it go. I loved everything about the show from the actors to the bad “foreign relations” scenes, to the filmography, and to the soundtrack (I have the whole thing on my iPod). I finally became a fan of Lee Seung-gi and Ha Ji-won, and pretty much every character was awesome. Who could forget “Ernest-Bot?”
2. What makes you jump into the world of blogging about dramas? —I’m not an entirely drama blogging site, but I did start this blog with the intention of covering K-dramas quite a bit.  Actually, I got into blogging here as a way of being able to talk about things that I wanted to outside of the Seoulbeats realm, and to give myself some practice in blog writing. But lo and behold, this site has become as much fun as writing over at Seoulbeats, if not more. The reason I stay, however, is getting to meet and interact with so many fascinating people who I share interests with. I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world.
3. Name an actor or actress in his/her 20’s that you think will still act when he or she reaches 50 years old. Why do you think so? —I would place my bets on Yoo Seung-ho. Wait, is he technically twenty? *Runs to check Wikipedia* Shoot. He’s technically 19, but in Korean age, he’s twenty, so IT STILL COUNTS.  I think Yoo Seung-ho will act at age 50 because he seems passionate about acting in ways I don’t see in a lot of other younger actors. He takes on challenging and unconventional roles, and is willing to take second fiddle even when he’s established himself as leading man material. That’s a mark of a real actor, and I’m excited to see him when he comes back from the army.  I would also think the same of Song Joong-ki, because he’s a really gifted actor as well.
4. Do you have a favorite acting-dol (idol actor)? — To be honest, no. There are some acting idols who are surprisingly talented, one of which includes a member of my beloved DB5K. But for some reason, Yoochun has always annoyed me as an actor, despite his rather uncanny popularity among the drama watching ahjummas.  NOPE. I just thought of a loophole.  My pick would be Yoon Eun-hye, because I like her a lot (though I could not get through two episodes of Missing You for the life of me) and she’s technically an acting-dol because she used to be part of Baby V.O.X.
5. How do you see yourself in 20 years, especially in your drama watching habit and your blog? — This is a hard one, because depending on where my career path will take me, this could be zero or quite a bit.  Right now I’m heading towards going to Medical School (crosses fingers) so in twenty years, my drama watching will be pretty minimal (this is when you’re really thankful for the existence of recaps), as well as how often I write on this blog. (T_T) If I just work as an engineer, then I’ll probably still be my drama and blogging loving self. Either way,  I don’t think I’ll be running this place the way I am right now, but that doesn’t mean I won’t love every minute that I’m here.

My Nominations:

Most All of my nominations probably don’t even know I exist, so this could turn out to be super awkward.

The Vault: This is one incredible (and harsh) drama reviewing site, and I have to say, it’s not for the casual drama viewer. With a tagline like “Life is too short for bad dramas,” it is as hardcore as it gets. The analysis is deep and thoughtful, and it’s actually a site that I really look up to for its great insight and eloquence. I highly, highly, recommend this place.

The Sixth Station: This is unrelated to dramas and Korean-Ent, but this person blogs about movies and television, and focuses quite a bit on Studio Ghilbi. He’s worth reading if you’re into those kinds of movies. [His Response]

Kdrama Laws: Laws for Kdramas. If that’s not intriguing enough to get you over there, I don’t know what else will. (Yes, I’m stealing my nominator’s nominations.) [Her Response]

Confessions of a Korean Rock Fan:  This is an adorable blog that I found out about through Chris finding me first.  Thanks for being a great reader Chris, and I really enjoy your perspective on K-pop (more like K-rock and lots of CNBlue) and K-dramas.[Her Response]

The Joys and Worries of an East Asian Lover: This is a small but worthy blog I stumbled on a while back. She’s very earnest with her posts, and if you want to really feel a personal touch out of K-pop blogs that’s not all “my bias is so ridiculously wonderful!” then this would be it. [Her Response]

 My Questions:

1. If you could blog about anything else in the world, what would it be and why?
2. How did you initially get interested in the topic that you blog about? (For K-drama/K-pop people, how did you come across those things in the first place?)
3. Sike! That URL is taken and your site’s name is copyrighted.  Now you have to change your site’s name and web address. What will it be and why?
4. This is your last post ever. What would you address in it?
5. You have to pick one specific topic (it can’t be too general like “movies”) to blog about for an entire month. What topic would you choose and why did you choose it? (Try to stay within the confines of what you currently blog about.)

(The Talking Cupboard, Chocolate Covered Katie, CJ Entertainment)