ABOUT ME. I am addicted to Asian dramas, pure and simple. I've been watching dramas all my life. Heck, my life is a drama! I blame it on my mother for getting me hooked on soap operas in elementary school. I watched All My Children at the very beginning. I was in the single digits back then and could barely write my name but I knew who Erica Kane was. LOL! When I was in my teens, I used to watch Filipino dramas (or rather, my mother monopolized the only black and white television set and if I wanted to watch TV, well, that was the only thing I could watch). The only good thing about watching Filipino dramas is that I didn't need to "read" the drama. I already understood the language (can't speak it but I can understand it). I didn't watch too many of these growing up. It was mainly American soaps that caught my attention and I would watch them steadily through elementary school, thru junior high and high school and even scheduled my college classes around them (I attended Luke and Laura's wedding along with hundreds of other people in Montezuma Hall on the campus of San Diego State University). I used to videotape soaps when that technology became available and sometimes would spend Friday nights catching up on a week's worth of soaps. Eventually, soaps started to consume my life (kids complaining that I don't spend enough quality time with them, etc.). I don't know how I was able to wean myself off of soaps but did so successfully. And I was doing fine until my youngest son introduced me to Asian dramas...
THE START OF AN ADDICTION. I can't recall the first Asian drama or movie I saw after a long hiatus from soaps/dramas (I think they are synonymous, except there is an end to dramas; with soaps, it's like the Energizer bunny...they keep going and going and going). While this blog will focus mainly on dramas, I do watch an occasionally movie or two when the mood strikes me (i.e., A Millionaire's First Love, My Sassy Girl, The Secret) and will also include them. My son begged me one weekend sometime in 2007 to watch one with him. Again, I don't recall which one but I remember thinking to myself that it wasn't so bad. I resisted at first because the thought of having to "read" a movie or drama was just not appealing to me. You have to pay real close attention and read fast while watching the actors do their thing on screen. No easy feat, especially if you don't read fast. LOL! Fortunately for me, I do read fast. I've watched a number of Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese dramas, mainly online (My Soju, CrunchyRoll). I no longer watch dramas on CrunchyRoll but do watch them on MySoju, Video4Asian, DramaCrazy, AsianRice and my favorite site, DramaFever.
It was after our family vacation to Tokyo in August 2008 that I started to discover my inner Asian (LOL!). My ethnicity is Filipino but I am 100% American. I've never lived outside of the United States and my home does not reflect my cultural heritage (no wooden forks or spoons on the wall, no photo of "The Last Supper", etc. For those of you who are Filipino American, you know what I mean). I believe my trip to Japan was truly the start of my Asian drama addiction.
PURPOSE OF MY BLOG. I want to share my thoughts and hopefully you'll share with me yours on the Asian dramas (and movies) I have seen and have yet to see. I'm debating whether or not I will post recaps. I guess if there is an interest, I'll be happy to do so, time permitting but there are other blogs and sites out there who I think do an excellent job of providing recaps (Dramabeans). In addition to the writing about the dramas themselves, I'll also share my favorite songs from the drama's original soundtrack (OST). I have quite a collection and my iPod has more Asian songs than English songs. I may wax poetic, have "are you kidding me?" moments and may go off on tangents but this will mainly be focused on my love of Asian dramas.
MY REALITY. I currently live in Los Angeles and by day, am a Human Resources professional. By night, I try and escape reality and spend time watching a good Asian drama or movie. Otherwise, I spend time with family and friends, am on Facebook, reading a good book or watching American television (which I should do since my paycheck is due to its existence--LOL!). I'm also learning Japanese (can read and write Hiragana; am now learning Katakana) and am also learning Korean--for fun!
Enjoy!
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