Guide to Korean variety shows and tv shows

Korean variety shows are unique and extremely hilarious. If you have not watched any Korean variety shows in you entire Korean addiction period, then I am sorry but you have not reached the full capacity of being a Korean mania. To fill you in, here are my must watch Korean variety shows of all time:

Running Man - 런닝맨 

This is the first Korean variety show that I watched. I remember watching this during my school break from morning to evening, not budging a single inch out of my room. This show is extremely hilarious. The concept of the show is to basically invite guests such as famous actors, singers, comedians etc to play games with the cast members. Normally the very last game that they would play is the "name tag elimination", where everyone will try to rip each other's name tag attached on the player's back. The last man/woman standing then becomes the victor. The quality of each episode varies on which guest(s) they have, what games they're playing and the location they film. I have enjoyed almost every episode of Running Man. It's a must watch!

Infinity Challenge - 무한도전

Infinity Challenge is another show that I dearly love. The cast members all have different personalities from each other which makes the whole show hysterical. The concept of this show is that there isn't one. Every week is different and it often revolves around a certain theme, for example, the recent "Wedding Singers" episodes, where each of the cast members partnered up with famous Korean singer/band to perform a surprise wedding song performance to a lucky viewer who is getting married. One thing I love the most about this show is that they often mix laughter with a few melodrama scenes. It's not a dramatic variety show, they just know when to put dramatic and heartfelt scenes at the right time.

We got married - 우리 결혼했어요

This show will make single people feel really lonely. If you think that the last couple you saw on the street was a bit gooey and cheesy, well then wait until you watch this show! The concept of the show is to get a pair of famous celebrities and have them "marry" each other. The celebrity line up here is extremely amazing; currently, my favourite couple is Eric Nam and Solar. Ahhhh, look at them in those pictures. The couples in this show remains "married" until they are given a "red card" which terminates their couple title. It makes me really sad when a good couple leaves, like what do they do after the show? Isn't it awkward? Like how can you move on after doing all those sweet stuff with each other? Anyway, this is one of my highly recommended variety shows to watch!

The return of superman - 슈퍼맨이 돌아왔다

If you love cute, naughty and funny little kids (in a non-creepy way), then you would enjoy this show. The concept of this show is that Dads and their kid(s) spend two days with each without the help of the mothers. This is often catastrophic but the Dads have managed to handle their kids over the years. I extremely love the cheeky twins (Seo-eon and Seo-jun), the beagle sisters (Seol-ah and Soo-ah) and Daebak. I also enjoy how nice So-eul and Da-eul are to each other. Until now, I still miss the Song triplets and Haru; they were the reason why I started watching the show.

*If anyone is interested in finding updates and photos of the Song triplets and Haru, their fathers have an Instagram accounts: @songilkook and @tabloisdad

2 days, 1 night - 1박 2일

Another unique variety show. The concept of this show is about six members going on a 2-day and 1-night trip together. The trip is often somewhere around South Korea, however, they have also done a lot of episodes overseas. The members are very hilarious, typical bubbly, energetic, male persona. They also recruit guest stars to go on the trip with them and games and will be played throughout the entire travel. I love this show because they show a lot of South Korea's rural areas where not many tourists go to. It shows you how beautiful South Korea is in terms of its modern society architectures as well as its humble traditional greeneries and houses found on the outskirt of Seoul.

Please take care of my refrigerator - 냉장고를 부탁해

This show makes me hungry every time I watch an episode of it. The chiefs are famous restaurant owners in Seoul and they compete against each other in a cooking battle based on the request of the guests. The show will often have two guest celebrities and their fridges will be transported to the set as is; leaving them with no time to clean up or dispose their leftover and expired food. A lot of celebrity's cleanliness were questioned in the show because of the state of their fridges, however, that is one of the main comical sides of the show. Seeing embarrassed and shy celebrities because of the state of their fridge are cute. My favourite episode was when Jinusean were the guest. Sean's wife is amazing! Their fridge is seriously organised and I'm in love!

Show me the money (SMTM) - 쇼미더머니 

This show got me into Korean hip hop and rap. I seriously think that South Korea is up there when it comes to hip-hop culture. The amount of amazing and talented people who comes and compete in the show are plentiful! They can rap their lungs out alright! The recent season of Show me the money is the best by far (SMTM5). The teams were incredible and the people who made it to the top 16 were deserving of their spots! If you love hip hop and would like to venture a bit more into Korean hip hop, watch this show and fall in love with the hip-hop culture in Korea.

Law of the Jungle - 정글의 법칙

This show reminds me of Bear Grylls' Man v Wild show. Kim Byung-man, the main star of the show is an incredible dude and is really knowledgeable when it comes to survival in the wilderness. He leads a team of guest celebrities into the wild only eating and using things that are already in their surrounding. This show is almost like an extreme extension of your normal "camping trip", except almost all the necessary things are not provided.

Fantastic Dou - 판타스틱 듀오

I got hooked with this show because Bigbang Taeyang was one of their celebrity guest singers in the very first episode. Way to get viewers! The concept of this show is that viewers across South Korea can upload a video of themselves singing a duet with their favourite celebrity singers. Three out of the hundreds will be chosen, and then those three viewers will compete with each other in order to get a chance to sing a duet with the guest singer; the guest singer will choose the viewer that he/she wants to sing a duet with. There are three celebrity guest singers and those three celebs will again compete with each other to win the "throne" and become the defending champion on the next episode. I love how amazing the singer and the chosen viewer can do a duet together with only a couple of hours to practice. This show will not disappoint you because it is not lip-synced!

I can see your voice - 너의 목소리가 보여

The little of this show is literally the concept of this show. Professional singers will be invited on the show and sort of act as an investigator to guess the correct person that can actually sing well. There are at least 7 contestants who are divided into two groups: "skilled singers" and "tone deaf" singers. The guest celebrity singer(s) will get given hints on which contestants are skilled and aren't without hearing them sing. Eliminated contestants will then reveal their singing ability. The aim of this show is to choose a skilled singer at the very end. If the last person standing is a skilled vocalist, he/she will receive a chance to release a song with the guest celebrity singer. But if he/she is a tone-deaf person, he/she will win 5 million won or roughly around 5 thousand USD.

Exchange study and travels.

Hello friends,

So this is sort of like a late introduction about my blog, but basically, I started this blog in hopes of recording the exciting events that happened (will happen) in my life. Next year, I will be going on an exchange study to Seoul, South Korea during the spring semester and I have already finished applying to the school. I'm just now waiting for their acceptance letter to arrive so that I can process my visa and other relevant documentations. The school I'm going to is Yonsei and I've heard soo many great things about that University and how beautiful South Korea is in general.

Here are some photographs of Yonsei that I found on the internet. I'll make sure to put up more photos that I took myself once I get there.

Photograph from HumanLiberty.org

Photograph found on Pinterest

Logo from Yonsei

There will be lots of posts coming up so I hope you guys stay tuned!

xxx

Where to watch korean drama and movies?

If you are new to Korean dramas and movies, finding the best website to watch online videos could be challenging. So here's a list of all the websites that I have used to watch Korean dramas and movies:

www.myasiantv.se - This website is my number go-to when it comes to watching Korean dramas. They have a great list of current Korean dramas and they normally upload subbed videos within a day or up to a week after the show/drama was shown in Korea. They also have a good variety of Asian movies and most of it are in HD, however, not all movies have English subtitles. The one downside of this website is that they don't have a lot of dramas that are dated back in 2013, 2012, 2011 and so on.

www.kshowonline.com - If you are into Korean variety shows, then this is the website for you. They've got almost everything! I like watching Running Man, Infinity Challenge, We Got Married, 2 Days & 1 Night and much more through this website! Their videos are normally between 720p to 1080p, which is great for a picky person like me. They don't have Korean dramas in here, just an extensive amount of hilarious variety shows. This website also works great on phones and tablets.

www.kissasian.com - If you want to watch Korean dramas that aired before 2013 then this website may have it in store. They have lots of older Korean dramas as well as a great list of other Asian dramas such as Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Filipino etc. I have watched Full House (2004), Boys Over Flowers (2009), Rooftop Prince (2012) and many others using this website and its great! I sometimes prefer this over MyAsianTv when I'm missing the old school Korean dramas. This website is also mobile and tablet friendly.

www.mydramaon.me - This website is my backup website to watch current Korean dramas if myasiantv is down for maintenance. It doesn't happen a lot but just in case! The layout of this website is very easy to navigate and very straightforward. If you prefer a very minimalistic web page design, then this could be for you! They also have Japanese, Cantonese, Chinese and Taiwanese drama.

www.dramafever.com - I don't really use this one because it has a lot of restriction on their dramas and movies, and you have to be registered in the US for this to properly work. This website set up, however, is the best out of all the websites I recommended. No annoying advertisements on the side of the page, however, they do have ad interuptions in their videos if you are not subscribed. If you want your dramas to be uploaded on time, have the best quality and the best subtitles, then paying a subscription fee could be worth it for you.

www.viki.com - This is another website that I don't use because it only works great if you live in the US. If you live outside the US, then some videos will not be available. It is such a shame that I can't use this website freely. Its got an amazing list of Asian dramas, not just Korean. They also sub some of their dramas in other languages other than English. Once again, I believe you have to pay a subscription fee to view some of the videos and to take away the annoying advertisements that come out every 5-15 minutes.

Top Korean Dramas for 2015

The Korean dramas this year has been pretty promising with a couple of them still clinging onto me. I seriously felt really sad when my favourite dramas this year ended. It left a big whooping void in my heart that only another big hit drama could fill. Thankfully this year there were lots of amazing dramas and to celebrate the end of 2015, I will list down my top eight Korean dramas. This is purely based on my personal opinion; maybe some slight bias on dramas with hot male leads (you know what I'm talking about girls lol). So without further ado, let us begin!

8.

Six flying dragons.육룡이 나르샤 

5th October 2015 - ongoing

This one is either a hit or a miss depending on whether or not you like historical Korean dramas. For me, I like historical dramas because of #1 there are more episodes and #2 you learn a bit about the Korean history and what it's like living in that era. I love the old traditional houses and clothing, I absolutely think it is gorgeous. It is a very long drama with 50 episodes and it hasn't finished yet! I love how well the director brings in new characters and how each of those new characters fit in like a missing puzzle. The episodes that I have watched so far are not draggy at all. I know some historical dramas can be a bit draggy, but not this one. Each new episode has a good story line that fits in well with the whole theme of the Joseon Dynasty establishment. 

The story is about six people who helped established the Joseon Dynasty in Korea. The central figure of this drama is Lee Bang Won (Yoo Ah-in), who is the 3rd King of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea. Lee Bang Won helped his father Lee Seong-Gye (later King Taejo), along with other five characters establish the Joseon Dynasty.

I love the actors and actresses in this drama too! I'm a fan of Kim Myung Min and Shin Se-Kyung. I also highly recommend watching Kim Myung Min's movies the Detective K: Secret of the Virtuous Widow and Detective K: Secret of the lost island. His movies are comical!

  

7. 

The secret of the village Achiara -마을-아치아라의 비밀 

7th October 2015 - 3rd December 2015

This drama gave me the creeps however I always anticipated each episode. It always left me hanging with questions and an infinite possibilities of what the next episode could bring. Well played to the director and the writer of the drama, the plot twist in the last episode was beyond my expectations. Some people might find this drama too draggy cause all throughout the 16 episodes, it remained true to the storyline; which is finding the killer. The story was carefully knitted to make every character connect to the main purpose of finding the killer. So until you guys get to the last episode, keep guessing! 

The story is about a tiny village called Achiara which is inhabited by citizens with dark secrets from the past. So-Yoon (Moon Geun-Young) arrived in Achiara to teach English at a local school and on her first day of work she found a dead body. Things started unraveling as So-Yoon persisted on figuring out the truth. With the help of the lovely and cheerful police officer Woo-Jae (BTOB member Yook Sung-Jae), the once "zero percent crime rate village" became an ugly mystery.

6. 

Yong Pal - 용팔이

5th August 2015 - 1st October 2015

I didn't really think I was going to like this drama because I'm not really a big fan of dramas that are set in hospitals, or dramas that are medical related. There were "surgery scenes" however it was blurred out. Korea takes good care of people like me lol. I love how subtle the romantic scenes were in contrast of the hectic and thrilling story line. The romance does not overshadow the whole purpose of the drama's plot.

This story is about Kim Tae-Hyun (Joo Won) an exceptional surgeon who also secretly operates people who are on the run (gangsters, thieves etc). His reason for doing an extra illegal job is so that he can save more money for his sister's expensive kidney dialysis. Tae-Hyun becomes a pawn in the hospital that he works in and was only allowed to cater to VIP patients. There he meets Han Yeo Jin (Kim Tae-Hee), a rich heiress who has been in a coma for three years. Tae-Hyun helps Yeo Jin wake up from her sleep and reclaim her old life.

5. 

Oh my ghost - 오 나의 귀신님

3rd July 2015 - 22nd August 2015

This story is hilarious! I love the main actress Park Bo-young. She really portrayed the two different characters really well in this drama. Kim Seul-gi who played the ghost also did extremely well in playing her crazy, perverted ghost character; she was amusing! The twist in the last episode was also epic. I love love love the big reveal in the end and how the writer gave the viewers a happy ending **oppps. 

Since childhood, Na Bong-sun (Park Bo-young) has been able to see ghosts because of her shaman grandmother. Bong-sun is a timid assistant chef at Kang Sun Woo's restaurant (Cho Jung-Seok). Bong-sun has a secret crush with Sun Woo but since their personalities are on the opposite poles, Sun Woo never noticed her. 

One day, Bong-sun was possessed by a virgin ghost Shin Soon-ae (Kim Seul-Gi). Soon-ae hopes to fulfill her woman desire in order for her soul to finally get to rest. When Bong-sun is being possessed by Soon-ae, Sun-woo began to notice her. 

4. 

Remember - 리멤버

9th December 2015 - ongoing

I knew I was going to like this drama as soon as I saw the trailer. I just had a good gut feeling that it is going to be amazing and it has been so far! I really like the actors and actresses in this drama. Very convincing acting. The main actor Yoo Seung-ho is an amazing actor and I wish he will do more dramas next year! Actress Park Min-young is a stunner. Nam Gung-Min, on the other hand, surprised me big time. He has been portraying the bad guy lately in some of his other dramas and it's almost weird seeing him very angry when I watched his "perfect oppa" episodes in the reality TV show We Got Married. 

The story is about Jin-woo (Yoo Seung-ho) who has a superb condition of hyperthymesia which allows him to remember everything that he sees in great detail.  Jin-woo's father has been wrongly accused of murder so Jin-woo became a lawyer to defend his father in court. However, he struggles to prove his father's innocence became difficult when he begins to lose his memory due to Alzheimer's.

3. 

Kill me, heal me - 킬미, 힐미

7th January 2015 - 12th March 2015

Not going to lie, I didn't really like this drama when I watched the first episode. It started off very weird because they tried to mimic a Korean guy going to a high school/college in America. It just felt too gimmicky and I think the whole series could go on without episode one. But once you pass the first episode, things will get better I assure you. Hands down to the main actor Ji Sung for portraying seven different characters in this drama. Hwang Jum-Eum and Park Seo-Joon also deserves recognition because they were lovely to watch and they gave this drama an enjoyable vibe with their sweet sibling relationship. The drama's story line is quite unique too, very interesting and something that you must watch!

Cha Dong Hyun (Ji Sung) is a rich heir to a family company who suffers from dissociative identity disorder (DID) with seven completely different personalities. This is because of his traumatic experience when he was young. In order to overcome his disorder in secret, he hires a first-year psychiatric resident Oh Ri Jin (Hwang Jung-eum). Ri Jin's twin brother Oh Ri On (Park Seo-Joon), an anonymous writer tries to uncover the suspicious lives of the rich and started to follow Cha Dong Hyun. 

2. 

Healer - 힐러

8th December 2014 - 10th February 2015

I seriously thought this was going to be my favourite drama for 2015 until a recent one came up. This is definitely worth the second spot. The actors and actresses were amazing, especially during the emotional scenes. The plot is quite unique however, you can easily get lost with the story line if you miss the informative parts. The romantic scenes in this drama are on point. It gave me the cringe but not too much that it's disturbing (if you know what I mean lol). The actor in this drama, Ji Chang-Wook is also great; I've seen quite a few of his other dramas and he is someone to watch out. Mark his name ladies; Ji Chang-Wook.

An incident decades ago involving a group of friends who ran an illegal broadcasting station brings together three different people - a mysterious night errand guy with the codename "Healer" (Ji Chang-Wook) who has an incredible fighting skills, a reporter from a tabloid news website (Park Min-young) and a famous journalist (Yoo Ji-Tae). The three main character comes together to find the truth from the mystery in the past. 

1. 

She was pretty - 그녀는 예뻤다

16th September 2015 - 11th November 2015

And the top drama for 2015 is.... She was pretty!!! 

Who doesn't love this drama? From Choi Siwon to Park Seo-Joon, this is basically an eye candy for the viewers. The thing that stood out for me in this drama is the fact that it gives off a really good moral to girls about self-esteem. The transition of the drama from the start, middle to end is great. I love how the lead actress did not change herself at the end just to be with a guy. You will have to watch the drama yourself to see why this is my top one; I don't wanna get carried away and give off too much information. 

I love how Park Seo-Joon and Hwang Jung-Eum are no longer siblings in this drama (they were siblings in Kill me, heal me) and I ship them more being lovers than siblings. They sparkle together as a couple and it showed in this drama, totally!

This drama also gave a lot of spotlight for their supporting characters. I love Siwon's free spirited, straightforward and mysterious character. I love the "Kim Joon-Woo and Han-Sul" office couple relationship. I love the crazy fashionista chief editor Kim Rara. I love the mysterious country bumpkin Kim Poong-Ho. And last but not the least, I love the best friend relationship of Min Hari and the main actress.

Every episode is made to perfection. I can not fault this drama. It will make you guess, laugh til' your stomach aches, cry til' you can't cry anymore and feel the satisfaction that every actor delivered their part very well. The romance part is soo quirky and cute. I can not imagine myself re-enacting those sweet moments in real life however I can't get enough of Seo-Joon and Siwon acting all cute and aegyo! 

Although it does not have a very complex storyline like the other dramas that I have mentioned, it does, however, show that a great drama does not need an extravagant plot to wow people. The story is very simple for everyone to follow.

This story is about Sung-Joon (Park Seo-Joon) and Hye-Jin (Hwang Jung-Eum) who became best of friends when they were little. Sung-Joon used to be fat and ugly while Hye-jin was popular and pretty. Unfortunately, Sung-Joon and his father moved to America so he and Hye-jin lost contact with each other.

Fifteen years later, Sung-Joon returns to South Korea and is set to meet Hye-jin for the first time. But the years changed both the characters and now Sung-Joon is handsome while Hye-jin looks nothing like her former self. Hye-jin asks her best friend Ha-ri (Koh Joon-Hee) to meet Sung-Joon instead of her. Hye-jin's pretense became difficult when she got hired in a magazine company where Sung-Joon is the boss.

Photo by Romain John

I hope you enjoyed my top dramas for 2015! I can't wait what the year of the red fire monkey's got in stock for us. Happy New Year everyone! Best wishes for the next year!

xx

Get to know me.

Glad you found my blog!

Welcome friend, my name is Sha, the person behind this chaotic and novice blog. 

I'm a 20-year old commerce student residing in a small distant country of New Zealand. I love to travel and hopefully over the course of my lifetime, I will get the chance to visit all 196 exquisite countries in the world.

I put up contents on just about anything that I find fascinating. There is no solid promise that I will put up posts on a constant basis. This blog will basically serve as an extension of my memories and experiences. Feel free to follow me on my public social media accounts.

Don't be a stranger!

xxx