Anya's Musings

My dog died on the 6th of June.

I thought of many ways to begin this post but saying it out bluntly like that was all I could come up with. because no matter how I put it, that is the final truth and nothing can change that. I miss her. She was 8 years old and only 4 days before she passed away, we found out that she had a renal failure.

She was my bestest friend in the world. I know its very cliched to say that I didn't raise her like a dog but as a part of the family, but once again, that's true and all I can say.

Its been weeks and my darling, I miss you. I hope you're happy wherever you are. I will always remember you.

xoxo

There's nothing to tell, really. I went, I ate, I shopped. That's pretty much all that happened. But I said in an earlier post that in order to continue writing, just writing, I'll become a diarist, so I will talk about the trip. Dubai turned out to a shopping and food heaven. The food, oh the gorgeous food! Everywhere you went, including the dessert safari and the Dhow cruise (the cruise do not recommend if you're on a tight schedule by the way; the dune bashing, I do), the restaurants and even the fast food joints! Yum, yum, yum!




And after all this, we deserve a lot of candy :D

 (Disclaimer: I do not own any of the pics in the post.)

Drama: Queen In Hyun's Man/ Queen and I/ 인현왕후의 남자

Language: Korean

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Time Travel, Fantasy

Main Cast: Yoo In Na and Ji Hyun Woo

Year: 2012

Total episodes: 16

This show...SO much cuteness! Queen In Hyun's Man is definitely one of my favorite dramas ever. Yes, I find it that adorable.But before I go into the review, I'll give you the very, very brief historical background info one needs to be able to enjoy the show (although they do provide it in the begining). About 300 years ago, when Korea was under the Joseon Dynasty, King Sukjong had demoted and exiled his queen, Queen In Hyun, in favour of his concubine Lady Jang. Basically Queen In Hyun was exiled and Lady Jang became the new sitting queen. Later on, he regretted his actions, and reinstated Queen In Hyun as his queen again, demoting Lady Jang. Mind, this is an extremely general jist of the history; if you want to know anything at all more, please look it up online on better sources than me! :)

The show's story begins thus:

Love Yoo In Na is this role.

In present day time, Choi Hee Jin (Yoo In Na) is a struggling actress who finally lands a leading role in a saguek as Queen In Hyun. All is good in the world for Hee Jin and her best friend/manager Soo Kyung (Ga Duek Hee), hoping that this role will generate a better fame and money filled future for both of them.

The only woe (more like a minor irk) in Hee Jin's life is that she is playing Queen In Hyun to her ex-boyfriend's King Sukjong. Her ex, Han Dong Min (Kim Ji Woo) is a charming Hallayu star, rumoured to be a notorius womaniser (much to his manager's dismay).

As annoying as he can get to Hee Jin, he is hard to be mad at.

He had dumped her shortly after rising to fame because he couldn't risk damaging his Hallayu star reputation by dating a struggling actress but is now back in the scene because he "can't forget Hee Jin" and because he will make her a famous actress so that she can match his social standing, leaving them able to date happily. Yeah, Dong Min has an ego the size of a dinosaur. Hee Jin doesn't care so much.

Back in the Joseon times, in King Sukjung's reign, Queen In Hyun is in exile and is supported by very few loyal people. Among them is a scholar and administrator Kim Bong Do (Ji Hyun Woo).

In Joeson garb. Hot.

In modern garb. Still hot.

Bong Do's family was tried and killed when the queen was exiled but he was spared as the king was quite fond of him (although, if you ask me, what an odd way to show fondness, that). He has dedicated his life to protecting Queen In Hyun, forming enmity of people who want her dead like Right Minister Min Am.

One day, he is given a talisman by a former maid of his (now dead) wife, Yun Wol (Jin Ye Sol).
She is now a popular gisaeng but is still loyal to, and nurses an unrequited love for, Bong Do (because, who wouldn't?). This talisman transports to the future (skip about 300 years) Bong Do everytime his life is in danger where he meets Hee Jin.

I won't tell you the story because what's the fun in that. But let me promise you that it is a very good watch. I have seen a lot of Korean rom-com and time traveling shows, where a nobleman from the Joseon lands up in the confusion of modern Seoul, meets a pretty girl and falls in love with her.

Time travel tales: Joseon nobleman and modern day girl.

 What is unique about Queen In Hyun's Man though is it's attention to detail. Every story line is beautifully and intricately woven together, the characters are consistent, and there is logical explanation bestowed on us audience whenever possible. Also, our hero, Kim Bong Do, is not your avarage time-traveled-and-very-out-of-place guy. He is super smart (with a really high IQ I'm guessing) who happily adapts to his new surroundings and manages to not let that muddle his Joseon life too much. Ji Hyun Woo has done absolute justice to this role. His comic timings, his melo scenes and his gorgoues smile...*sigh* Enough reason to watch this show, seriously!

Kim Bong Do spraying water on rival out of jealously and sticking his tongue out. Awwwww!

 Choi Hee Jin, our beloved heroine, is also very nice, round and well fleshed out character. How often do you think I watch a drama with the presence of a really hot male lead and actually like the female lead as well? Hee Jin is very bubbly, but not annoyingly so and what I love about her is that, well, she has self respect damnit. Just because her Hallayu star ex tries to come back to her doesn't mean that she goes running to him. She is such a lively character. Yoo In Na is perfect in this role. Plus, of course Ji Hyun Woo and Yoo In Na's chemistry is wow (they began dating in real life shortly after the show wrapped up).

Supporting characters are also flawless. I really like the character consistencies and none of the characters, not once, seem to be doing something or act in a way that didn't seem justifiable considering their characters type.

I really liked the way Queen In Hyun's Man handled the juxtaposition of the old and new, the two different timelines. In the scene where the below screenshot is from (episode 16), this is all the more evident.
I really like this show and I highly recommend this show. Watch it; it's honestly good. Everything from the plot, to the cuteness (and there is a ton of it), to the way the story unfolds itself, to the hotness personified Ji Hyun Woo, to the rest of the cast (lol) to the soundtrack of the show, everything is brilliant. The writer hasn't wasted a single moment or a bi line of the story.

I obviously rate Queen In Hyun's Man a 10/10. :D

More K-drama reviews:

• Boys Over Flowers
•  Flower Boy Ramyun Shop
• Personal Taste
• Playful Kiss
• Full House
• Coffee Prince
• Dae Jang Guem
• My Girlfriend is a Gumiho

Trust me, the many cups of black coffee are helping me sit down and write. And ignore my packing. My flight is tonight & I'm still like Hmm, what sunglasses should I carry? Such point my life has come down to. Sigh. I blame it all the heat. If there is one thing I hate about Delhi, it's got to be its weather. But never mind that.

Since I've been staying at home, I've finally been able to get on with my reading list. In the beginning of 2014, I had set a target of reading at least 80 books (not counting the ones I've to read for work) and I had thought at the time that it was a tiny target keeping in mind how much I usually read. But as we know, nothing in life is constant. Shit happens and I was in my PJs-&-fried-food-eating mode for, oh, months! And the next thing I knew, I was already six months into 2014 without having read as much as I'd hoped. So recently I've sat down and read the following:

• A Face in the Dark and Other Hauntings (Ruskin Bond)
• The Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
• 2012 Nights (Vipul Rikhi)

Not bad for a week, eh?

I had started this blog a long, long time ago because a friend of mine had attended a lecture on how to be a successful writer where she learnt that maintaining a blog helps (this is back in 2007 when blogs were comparatively both less and cool). And here I was. Over the time it grew into much more than that. But now I've come to realise something: nothing, I mean nothing--not even a magical blog--can help you write unless you don't actually sit down and write. I am sure many of you have noticed that I had pretty much abandoned my blogs for all the usual reasons (adult life, job, personal shit etc.), leaving this space with a severe case of the empty nest syndrome.

However, I am happy to report that now I am back. I have no idea what to write, in fact the lack of ideas of post topics was one the reasons I fled in the first place, but write I shall. So here comes my declaration: I shall become a diarist!

What? Seriously! As boring or insanely interesting as life sometimes gets, it exists and since I have absolutely nothing to write about & because I am tired of this persistant writer's block, I shall simply have to documents stuff.

I shall begin my new plan by telling the world that I have finally quit my old job (more on that sometime else) & am going on a short trip to Dubai, like, tomorrow. Who knows, maybe when I return, I write a post about the trip. See? Diarist mode kicking in!

I've been away from my dear blog on and off for 6 months now. Or maybe more. I lost count after a while. Many reasons as to why and shit. First, as they say, life got in the way. As it does. And shit happens. And you're too broken at the time to do anything. Second, my office has gmail, blogger (among anything remotely fun) blocked and since I spend near to 10 hours a day there (and more commuting to or from there) hunched in front of a computer screen, I have little energy to come back and write.

But now that'll change. I hope.

Just writing to say that.

As some of you have noticed, I've been away from this blog a while now. I'm in the middle of a really, really, REALLY rough patch which I am hoping to combat but am, so far, unsuccessful in doing so. Feel free to give advices.

That said, I feel the need to write down the sudden urge I have to watch The Way We Were again. Because it sort of reflects what happened to me now.

Man, life sucks.

Because so far it hasn't! And it's only the 10th day of this year!!

Anyways, I crib/cry about my life--job, relationship etc--all day long so excuse me as I try to look at the non-existent silver lining. Because I am told that's the thang right now. To be fair to me, I spent a large part of yesterday and the day before to find something to happy about as a part of the 100 happy day thing...and failed miserably! Not a single thing. Man, I am some Grinch, aren't I? However, there is this one good thing but that's sort of a carry-forward from 2013: I have found a loophole in my office's internet securities and can now blog (until of course the IT people figure out and disable it but I think I have a good one week before that happens).

What else is up? Nothing. A lot of melodrama. A lot of TV watching (Sherlock and a k-drama called My Love from Another Star) and trying to finish my reading list I acquired on my birthday. While I juggle my job. For I have one now.

Amen.