Lee Junki Appearance @ HIFF

Lee Junki made a special appearance at the 27th Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival last Friday, October 19. He was presented with the "Rising Star" award at the U.S. premiere of his latest movie, "May 18" at the Hawaii Theatre.

I did not expect to get to see Lee Junki because 1) I found out last minute, 2) Tickets must be sold out, and 3) Tickets must be expensive. But no, tickets were not sold out and tickets were only $12. Yay!

The movie did not start until 8:00 pm, but there were already long lines of people waiting when my friend, my sister and I showed up at 6:00 pm. Standing in line was a horrible experience because we literally had to smell poop (this was an area where homeless people dwell) for more than an hour. We passed the time talking to another wonderful Lee Junki fan standing in line with us. Although we all just met, we got along very well because we fangirled together had similar interests. We even exchanged email addresses before exchanging names! ^___^

At around 7:30 pm, the lines started moving, a black limousine drove by, and screams erupted. I ran to the front. At first, I couldn't see anything because there were so many people, but they all held their cameras and phones up, snapping away so I knew he was in the crowd somewhere. And then I spotted him! My heart nearly stopped.



It is not that I was particularly in love with him (I am now), but the experience of seeing him in real life, and not on television or in pictures, is staggering. He was just as beautiful and handsome pretty as he is in pictures, if not more. This was my only shot of him standing outside because people were blocking my view. =(

We were lucky to snag seats in the front, where we met more Lee Junki fans. Again, we spoke like old friends. (Fangirls unite!) It felt like forever before Lee Junki finally appeared on stage. Along with the "Rising Star" award, he was also presented with a bowl made of koa wood.



I felt very happyyy for him! ^^ He began his speech with the traditional, "Aloha!" His accent was fobby, but so adorable. <3 There were two translators: English and Japanese. After he said one line, he would wait for the English translator to finish her translation. He then opened his mouth to say his next line when he was interuppted by a man saying, "Wait, wait. Japanese first." IT WAS SO CUTE. <3 He forgot that there was a second translator more than once. xD

The movie experience was not as wonderful. For starters, the theater experienced some "technical difficulties." I couldn't believe that they experienced problems on such a night. ^^; There was no sound in the beginning. The sound came back on when the movie started but we found something new to complain about: the quality of the film was bad. The movie looked like it was being played from the computer.

"May 18" started out good. I loved the first half in the movie...and it is entirely coincidental that Lee Junki starred in only the first half. Or maybe not...? I really enjoyed the scenes between the brothers, Jin Woo (Lee Junki) and Min Woo (Kim Sang Kyung). My favorite scene is the bicycle scene (people who watched it should know what I'm referring to). I won't describe the scene because I know I will take the humor out of it.

I did not understand some parts of the movie very well because I was not familiar with the historical context behind the movie. I did some research after seeing the movie (*coughcough*) and the movie basically recounted the Kwangju Massacre in Kwangju, South Korea that lasted for ten days from May 18, 1980. The movie focused on the people caught in the upheaval and presented a shallow portrayal of the events. All of the soldiers were "evil" and all of the civilians were "innocent." I only got to see the civilians' side of the story. I found it horrifying to see so many innocent civilians getting beaten to death by soldiers. Somehow, watching this sort of violence on screen feels even worse than watching soldiers kill with guns or cannons. Women and children were not spared.

During the movie, I cried during a scene where a dad gets killed while trying to tries to save his son during an attack. The next scene showed Jin Woo trying to help an injured person. He also gets shot in the process. These scenes were heart wrenching. However, I felt that the biggest flaw of the movie was that they over-victimized the civilians, making it seem somehow phony. I think the filmmakers tried too hard to gain sympathy from the viewers which played down their effect of pathos rather than playing it up. To appeal to the audience's emotions, "less is more." I found a few scenes that were unnecessary and could have been removed. In fact, I think the movie would have been a lot better if they removed the third of multiple scenes of Chang Su's blind mother crying for him and the scene where a little boy cries for his dead father. In another scene, the civilians started dying one by one as they battled against the soldiers at the City Hall. One guy starts to say his name on the walkie-talkie and is later joined by others who go down. The talking scenes went on for quite a while and I felt that they were overly redundant. I do not mean to sound heartless, but it felt like too much.

The movie did hold surprises for me. I never expected to see Jin Woo killed off so early in the first half of the movie because he was our star. <3 It was also the first time I've seen a movie in which the main hero (Min Woo) of the movie dies (and it was a very senseless death, too). In fact, all of our main characters die except for Shin Ae, our leading girl. =(

If the movie weren't so shallow and if a few scenes are deleted, I would have like it a lot more.

...But I'm happy because I got to see Lee Junki. <3

Feeling Junk

** Sorry if there's pidgin (local slang used in Hawaii) here. There is no better words to use.

Yesterday, Zane got his own American Savings Bank account. It may be stupid, but this made me feel junk. I went through a lot of (unnecessary?) trouble just to get an account there, even had a few strings pulled because my mom's friend worked there. But Zane gets one just like that, with the snap of his fingers. It's not like I'm feeling resentment or anything of that sort. Of course not - I'm very happy for him. But that doesn't change the fact that I feel junk. It seems that I always end up taking the hard way out when there is an easier path to follow. It sucks.

Last night, I found out that Zane wasn't even taking the PSAT! I was so shocked and I really couldn't believe it. But Jenny was all like, 'whatever' about it and said, "Doesn't matter because he's going to college."

This made me feel junk too. I was really stressing yesterday and doing some last minute cramming for the test because there was never any time for me to study before. Now it's like all the studying I've been doing is for nothing.

"It doesn't matter anyway."

Long Overdue Post on Fall Break

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while. My sister hogs the computer way too much. For evidence, you go to her websites and see that they are updated more frequently than mine. And...I've been busy. I planned to write about my fall break, but that was more than a week ago now. I don't quite feel like blogging too much about it now. Still! I have pictures! So let that be the excuse for this overdue post. =)

Sunday (Oct 1)
I went out with Jenny and Zane for lunch and a little bit of shopping. And just because I want to show off my lunch:



Tokyo Shoyu Ramen @ Mikazuki inside Shirokiya



Monday
I planned for this day weeks before fall break started. My friends and I were all stressed from school and work so I figured we could all use a little cheering up. Although we see each other every day at school, it's not the same as getting together just to have fun. And I mentioned before how a friend neglected all her friends because of her boyfriend...well, this was a girls-only-fabulous-fun-day. This means he CANNOT come along. He actually called while we were putting cucumbers on our faces, but my other friend snatched her phone away. xD We baked matcha roll cake with azuki beans and gave ourselves the "beauty treatment" (my ideas).



Matcha roll cake w/ azuki beans & apple cider


It tasted like a dream come true...


Just b/c I like this shot and you can't really see our faces...(I'm in the middle.)


Tuesday & Wednesday
Work @ the library.

Thursday
I went bowling to celebrate a friend's birthday. I hit a strike, but suffered from a mysterious losing streak afterward. I was doing fine in the beginning, but after lunch, I got zero after zero. o_o; Hm. Bad luck sushi?

Friday
This was the longest day. I set my alarm to wake me up at 6:10 AM, but I forgot to put in a CD so I woke up 20 minutes late. On Friday, I was supposed to go hiking at Diamond Head with Erica and the Vietnamese Club. I'm not in the club, but I'm going anyway just because Erica invited me and I've never been to Diamond Head. *smiles* Erica estimated to be finished with the hike at 12, everyone was telling me how we had to climb a 100-step staircase, and Ha complained that her legs were killing her. All of this made me think it would be a long and difficult process to get to the top.

The hike was actually slightly disappointing for me because it was so short. It was an easy hike - not challenging at all. The trick is to watch your feet. The path is rocky so you can easily trip, fall, and break your back. And the infamous stairs! Not difficult at all! A hundred steps are nothing! ;D (I know my sister will have something to say about this...tsk,tsk.)

The view at the top was spectacular. There were many Japanese tourists and I heard someone exclaim, "Sugoi!" Sugoi, indeed! :D I made a gallery of this trip and you can view it here. (If you go to the Photography page, you would notice that there are two more galleries - 6 & 7. I'm going to put that up later because there are too many photos to deal with right now.) The first shot in the gallery was taken before our hike. Erica spotted a stray cat so I snapped a picture of it. Erica was second to take out her camera, but one picture was enough to scare the cat away. XD Sorry, Erica! You can have my picture (just ask)! I also have a picture of stairs in one of the shots...people told me that was the 100 steps staircase, but they were mistaken! Those were NOT the staircase...there were actually three sets of staircases. Thankfully, I did take a picture on the real staircase:



Erica (in pink) and me on the 100-steps staircase.


We finished the hike three hours before 12 so our "lunch" became our "breakfast." XP

I say this is a long day because I also went out later that night with an old friend from elementary school. <3 I've never attended a "First Friday" before. "First Friday" is an event that happens on the first Friday of every month. Galleries in Chinatown/Downtown are open for public viewing. There is much entertainment such as live music. Many shops and restaurants are also open. =3 We went to the The Arts at Marks Garage and I really liked this piece:



I don't remember the title, but it costs $1800.

It is an interesting piece, but I would rather use my money for the Japan trip, hehe. ^^ I also took pictures of paintings but those didn't come out well due to the glare of the lighting. My favorite place was the Ramsay museum. Ramsay is an AMAZING artist and I'm officially a fan now. I'm sad that I can't find any of her works online so I can't show you guys. =( What sets her apart from all the other artists is her extraordinary attention to detail. When I first entered the museum, I noticed that there was a magnifiying glass hanging next to each peace of her artwork. I found the sight to be quite comical...but you can only truly come to appreciate her fine lines when you view them up close. It's astonishing.

Here are some other pieces that I liked:



All of the members of the Chinese zodiac!


A close up of me!


Cute teacup set.


I really liked that teacup set...I thought it was irresistably cute...simply adorable. This was at the grand opening of a new furniture shop called [area]. I'm sure it was unaffordable so I didn't bother looking for the price.



Pretty vase.


I fell in love at first sight with this gorgeous vase at the shop "into" (yes, it's called into), but pictures don't do justice. -_-

It's getting really late now so that's all for now. Good night!

Adventures at the Library

Here I am, taking a long little break from homework to give you guys some insider scoop on the library! How exciting! No, actually, I can't give away too much. I don't think I feel too stressed yet with all the work I have. At least, I hope not. o_o;

Today is my fourth day at work, making it 7.5 hours. *smiles* At first, I really wondered whether the job was worth all the trouble that I went through to get it (that definitely caused me alot of stress!) I spent two weeks with trips to and from the Federal Credit Union, pulled strings to get an account at the American Savings Bank (my mother's friend works there, thank goodness), visited the Satellite City Hall twice to get my state ID (they were closed on my first trip there so I only got to pick up an application form), and filled out fifteen forms.

But I think this job is good for me. It's probably going to be the easiest and least strenuous jobs that exist out there. My supervisor, Kristine*, is one of the most eccentric people I've met, but she's very kind.

* name change

I got hired to be a student helper at the Social Science & Philosophy section. It consists a small staff of only five people. I've spent the past few days under "training" but I can't wait until I'm done with it so that I could actually help out with some real work. Kristine constantly tells me how her supervisor has really high standards and expectations. Hearing this makes me want to show her that I can do a better job than any other previous student helpers they've had. I want to exceed her expectations.

Most people find having a job at the library boring, even my friends who work there. Maybe I'll get bored later on, but I've done this for three years in Middle School (I was one of the nerdy cool kids in the Library Club) and it wasn't bad.

Yesterday, I had a tour around the third floor (staff only) of the library and was introduced to many people. I got to peak across the hallway to the busy director's office. Kristine showed me the "most important room" - the lunch room. It was connected to a spacious kitchen. There were three refrigerators, three microwaves, a stereo, and a toaster. She tells me this like I'm expected to remember the number of appliances the lunch room contained. The quirky thing about the lunch room were the puzzles. There were hundreds of boxes of puzzles...!

"To keep sanity," Kristine tells me.

There was even something called a "cot room" in which there were two beds for workers who weren't feeling well, are tired, or haven't had enough sleep. o_o;

"You can practically live here!" Kristine jokes.

Throughout the tour, Kristine kept warning me of safety precautions. In fact, she is so paranoid that I find this her caution to be peculiar. Maybe something has happened to her in the past that caused her to be this way. While we were on our way to a staff-only elevator, she tells me to make sure the door latch is shut behind me. Her eyes widen as she exclaims, "Who knows when a drug addict may slip in!" She goes on to explain that if they find the door to the staff room open, they might sneak in and try to find anything they could use to sell so they can buy more drugs. Kristine looked dead serious, but I can't help finding the scene comical. I can't imagine what a bunch of old, dusty, about-to-be-discarded books and ballpoint pens might be worth. She also tells me, "When you see a strange man in the elevator that just gives your skin the tingles, you trust your instincts and don't go in the elevator with him!"

I hope none of the things she is telling me will make me into a paranoid freak (I'm paranoid enough already!)

She continues talking about meeitng strange, scary, and dangerous men as we walk down another bare hallway to another room. A man walked by in the middle of her rants. Kristine looks up and exclaims, "Oh, Charles! Let me introduce you to our new student helper."

Charles smiles and says, "You're telling her that I'm scary and to stay away, huh?"

Kristine replies, "Oh, goodness, no! I was just telling her..." She explains what she has been telling me for the past half hour while Charles nods his head in swift motions. "Oh, Charles! I wasn't talking about you!"

I don't remember this episode as well anymore so the description is not very good, but it was extremely funny and we all had a good laugh out of it.

Today I learned that there was more to being a student helper than just shelving books and keeping the place neat and tidy. They have other little tasks to do behind the staff room door. I've even learned of things that "are not to be revealed to the public." (Like top secret entrances to the library before it opens to the public!) *smiles*

P.S. Did I ever mention that in my time spent at the library, I've come across many interesting book titles? Here are a few:

- "A Manual for the Police Officer: How to Handle Abnormal People" (spotted on first day)
- "Spies and Provocateurs: A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Persons Conducting Espionage and Covert Action"
- "Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters"
- "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History"

I make it a game to spot one everyday! It'll be something I can look forward to keep myself amused.

I'm a Nutcase. Really.

I AM SO STUPID.

I can say I'm the stupidest person in the world and it wouldn't be an exaggeration. I'm sure you can't help but agree after you read this post. So don't if you still want to believe in me.

I don't know why I kept screwing up today at school. But I did. Over and over again.

It began first period (Physics EA). The teacher gave us a pop quiz (our second one already!) It's funny how I just learned how to "vector" in PS over the summer, yet I can't make any sense of vectoring in Physics.

I started stupidly at the problem on the blackboard for half an hour, trying to graph vector A = 5m 40 degrees W. I thought to myself, "Is it 40 degrees in the direction of the protractor or the graph?" I got really confused because south would mean I had to turn my protractor upside-down. But the protractor's "west" would become the graph's "east." Which direction was I supposed to follow?

At first, I felt confident that I would figure it out eventually. Perhaps it was a temporary brain fart and I would start to understand after I relaxed a bit. Relax I did not and nothing came to me. Minutes passed by and I still had no idea. I kept drawing, erasing, redrawing, and erasing. I gave up on the graph after a while and decided to proceed on to the calculations. But I couldn't do those, either! Maybe an hour passed before I noticed people around me using their notes. >__> I quickly grabbed my own notes from my binder. Alas, I didn't even understand my own notes (you must be thinking how much more hopeless can this girl get but oh boy, she can!) I suddenly felt that old panic that came back to haunt me.

I was in the fifth grade, staring at the horrendous "F" sitting on my test paper. Yes, that infamous "F" that preyed on so many students. I had never been a victim until that day. And to this day, it was still my only "F." You might be wondering what kind of test it was, coming from the girl who worked so hard to receive A's from all her math tests, even when one problem's calculations took up an entire page. It was the most horrible kind of test: street maps that required labeling of all sorts. I had to do a map of my own neighborhood. I didn't know what was considered the "back" or "front" of my home, nor what direction school was from home. Back then, I had a big problem with "north" and "south." To this day, I still can't make any sense of directions. It's so confusing!

Getting back to Physics class...the teacher was nice enough to let everyone take the quiz until the end of class. I gave up a while after the bell rang and tried my best to hold back tears.

My last period of the day was English. I did not turn in the homework that I worked so and on last night because I apparently left it at home. I thought I remembered putting it in my binder, but I guess it was only my imagination. This is another problem - sometimes I can't differentiate what really happened and what I only thought happened. There are many times that I don't know dream from reality.

(As I write this, I'm starting to think I'm more of a nutcase than I thought.)

As I have mentioned before, English is currently one of my worst subjects (it didn't used to be). In class, Mr. Nickelsen would pass out different articles that we had to interpret through SOAPS (Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Speaker). So far, I haven't been able to get any of my responses correct. I either didn't understand the text, or I misinterpreted it. When we were assigned to read, "Once More to the Lake" by E.B. White, I was excited because I thought that this was the first time I truly understood the essay. I was proud of my answers, no bull-shitting necessary. But I didn't have it with me in class.

Our English class starts everyday with some journal writing. The teacher explained that he will check and grade our journals every five entries. Well, today happened to be the fifth day. And no, I didn't leave my journal home like you might have guessed. And I did write my fifth journal. We turned our homework in at the end of class and I was in a frenzy trying to find my homework (the one with the answers that I'm so proud of and the one I printed twice so it'd be perfect). I was a mess. Friends tried to help me look for it, but it couldn't be found. I was so upset that I gathered everything on my desk and left the classroom. I also stuffed my journal in my bag. On the very day we were supposed to turn them in.

No, it wasn't that I didn't realize I had it. I realized just in time, actually. I walked across the football field, opened my bag, saw the journal, muttered, "Oh shit," and ran back across the field to the English building. When I reached the building, I was devastated to find the door closed and locked. I knocked in vain and looked around me. There were other students hanging around nearby. I asked them if they by any chance knew where Mr. Nickelsen went. After all, they were right in front of his door and might be waiting for him, too. Nobody knew and one girl even asked, "Who's Nickelsen?" I paced back and forth in front of his door, debating whether I should wait in case he comes back or just leave. After a few minutes, I decided I waited long enough and left.

Now that I'm sitting nicely back at home, I hit another terrible realization. Guys, I'm really much more stupid than you think. I'm so stupid that it's unbelievable and telling this to others would only sound like fibbing.

The closed classroom that I furiously and embarrassingly ran back to was not my classroom. Not at all. You see, the English building has two sides and I had run to the wrong side of the building. The two sides look identical and I often get them mixed up.

I swear. If Joyce didn't guide walk with me to class everyday, I would have walked into the wrong classroom!

A Lost Friend?

This morning, I woke up feeling groggier than usual. I couldn't find my comb, my eye glass case, and a great number of other items. Things always seem to mysteriously disappear from our room! I was filled with depressing thoughts on the bus ride to school. The sadness that I've kept inside of me all this time was just itching to burst out any moment, but I held it in and tried to think good thoughts.

When she came to the cafeteria, she gave me five blueberry cupcakes as a part of my late birthday present. I felt very grateful for them because I didn't like today's school lunch. She also wrote a letter apologizing and acknowledging the fact that she didn't even wish me a happy birthday. I was surprised and almost felt like crying.

All of this time, I couldn't help feeling extremely hurt and bitter. We drifted apart when she got a boyfriend. Whenever I try to talk to her, I can't because her boyfriend is always there interrupting our conversation with rude and sarcastic remarks. He clings to her 24/7 and I rarely see her alone anymore. When we all sit together with other friends at lunch and in class, she talks to other people. It almost seems like she's ignoring me. The only time she does pay any attention to me is during US History class because I'm practically the only person she knows (aside from one or two other girls). It made me feel like I was below others on her list and that she would rather talk to other people. It is like I'm her last resort because there is no one else to talk to. Maybe having a boyfriend means neglecting your friends a bit. I know it's not intentional, but it did hurt. She has been aloof and distant, especially on my birthday. On the morning of my birthday, she only spoke to a friend sitting across from me and then left to sit at another table with her boyfriend. No "hi" or "good morning." I made an attempt to be friendly with her in Physics class by pointing out that we were both wearing yellow, but that was about it. She didn't talk to me AT ALL. Maybe she doesn't even realize that she's been cold, but I really felt like I'm not her friend anymore. Friends know each other and all of a sudden, she seemed like a stranger to me. Do I really know anything about her?

Today was slightly different. For the first time in what felt like years (it was actually months), she sat next to me at the lunch table and watched me eat her cupcakes. They were incredibly moist and I like how she was generous with the blueberries. <3 Her boyfriend wasn't at the table because he had cafeteria duty so we could actually talk.

She tells me that it's difficult to juggle having a boyfriend and friends at the same time. Well, she has obviously chosen her boyfriend over her friends. I've never felt so neglected before.

I miss the old days.

Sixteen Years Old

This Thursday was my sweet sixteenth. I don't understand why turning sixteen is supposed to be special because mine was not special at all. I don't feel any different, and only a handful of people remembered my birthday. Everyone else (including my entire family) forgot. At times, I even forgot my own birthday because it was such an ordinary day. I know it is my fault for not telling them, but it would be weird to say, "It's my birthday." I truly don't mind, though. I was only hurt that one of my "close" friends did not even say hi to me on that day, much less wish me a happy birthday. I hate boyfriends because they get in the way.

Today was a nice and relaxing Saturday. My older sister treated me to a late birthday lunch at Dreamers Home Style Cafe, which is becoming one of my favorite restaurants. I love the decor and the nice ambience it carries. They offer many common dishes, but their food always has this unique taste that I can't quite pinpoint. Anyway, I'm not a food blogger so I can't describe it. All you need to know is that it was good and I ate like a pig. =)

I realize I haven't blogged since school started. I'm busy, already! Harhar.

--
My new classes:

Period 1: Physics EA*
The teacher is Ms. Rasay. We were already familiar with each other's faces because we've seen each other during the Engineering Expos. All we needed to learn were the names. I don't know if it's some sort of curse at this school, but all of the science teachers I've had so far have bad English! During my freshman year in Biology BSCS, my teacher was Ms. Hu. She had a horrible Chinese accent. During my sophomore year in Chemistry EA, my teacher was Ms. Trinh. She had a horrible Vietnamese accent. And this year? She's Filipino. With a horrible Filipino accent. Class didn't start off too well for me...I think she pinched me on the first day of school because I didn't know the radius of a hydrogen atom. ;o;

Period 2: Graphics Communication
Hmmm, not much to say about this class except that the work is easy and that the teacher reminded me of Mr. Oshiro, my wood workshop teacher back in Middle School.

Period 3: Travel Industry Management
I really regret taking this elective. ;_; I'm stuck with a bunch of loud and immature sophomores and I don't have a single friend here. A boring class.

Period 4: Pre Calculus EA*
I'm already expecting to have a hard time in this class. ><;;; I think I failed the first quiz. *sigh*

Period 5: AP English
I haven't had a decent, proper English class in four long years. Seriously. I was itching to finally learn something! Although this class is difficult, I don't hate it. =) I actually enjoy it because I like the teacher and my classmates (many of them are from my World History Honors class last year). I'm just so eager to improve my vocabulary, reading and writing skills!

Period 6: US History
It is just my luck to be stuck with the strange teacher that talks about sugar and peeling corn. I think we're doing the Civil War.

*EA = Engineering Academy
--

I also added a new gallery in the Photography section. They're pictures of Waikiki again, only this time there are more beach shots. My personal favorite shot is the first one. =)