A Look Back

Looking back, I can say that I had a great time in the past year.

London for A Friend

I was tidying up my folder on my laptop when I found this letter. I wrote it for a friend in VHL. She had a plan to go to London in May and she asked me about the places I visited when I went there last February this year. Instead of writing down the lists, I decided to make it into story.

Wageningen, 12 May 2014

Dear,

London has been my dream for years (14 years, to be exact) and it felt awesome that I finally went there. It’s like I want to jump to the past, meet 13-year-old me, pat her shoulder and say, “You made it, Kid!”

Anyway, London is always busy. You will meet many tourists there. Everywhere. If you meet Asian couple wearing couple t-shirts, chances are they are from South Korea. If you meet people that look like me, talk like me, they may be from Indonesia, or Thailand.

I have been to some places in London, but my favourite is South Bank and Portobello Road.

South Bank is actually an area adjacent to Thames River. You can start walking from London Eye to Tower Bridge. It’s a long walk, but if I could do it, I believe it will be easy for you.

London Eye

You can enjoy a ride on London Eye for experience

What I love about South Bank is the ambience. It’s really a nice place to walk. You can see some street performances there. If you are tired (I doubt it, but it can be), you can sit on a bench while having ice cream or popcorn (like I did). You can do people watching or simply enjoying Thames River before your eyes.

One of the street performances I enjoyed

If you go further, you will see second-hand bookstores. This is also another reason why I love this place!

Heaven!

You will pass some bridges (oh yes, London has many), starts from Hungerford Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Millenium Bridge, London Bridge and Tower Bridge, the landmark of London!

People mistakenly think this is London Bridge, but no, this is Tower Bridge

So, that’s about South Bank. My second favourite is Portobello Road. Have you ever watched Notting Hill? The setting of that movie is in Portobello Road. But I love that place for different reason.

Portobello Road is…what can I say…classy. And antique. And also creative. First you will see colourful building.

 

Yeah, it is only a small road

Then you will see antique stores. They sell things like the market we visited in Barcelona. Remember? But Portobello Road is way nicer with the better quality products I guess. I also found creative stores there. They design their own books or t-shirt, they create inspiring words. The atmosphere is so positive I think I can spend the whole day there. Well, this may be just me. Maybe you have different opinion haha!

That’s my favourite place.

Now I will tell you about must-visit places in London: Big Ben, Parliament House, and Westminster Abbey. 

They are close to each other. In fact, Big Ben is a part of Parliament House. Remember the South Bank? It’s only a walk away from these three places. 

Parliament House with iconic Big Ben

Then since you go to a kingdom, you also must visit Buckingham Palace.

Tourists..tourists.. everywhere

In front of Buckingham Palace, there’s a park where you can sit and enjoy the day. It was sunny when I went there. I know you will love the sun. 

And oh, you also can enjoy pancake or french fries or ice cream. Talking about ice cream (again), I still owe you ice cream. Let me know when you feel like you want some.

If you are lucky, you will meet this little guy

From the palace, you can go straight to Trafalgar Square and National Gallery. The good news is it’s free to enter National Gallery.

National Gallery, in the same area with Trafalgar Square

Enough for the must-visit places.

However, if you still have plenty of time, you can go Picadilly Circus and Oxford Circus. There’s nothing there. Well you can find branded products in Oxford Street but that’s just not my thing. I went there just because it’s famous circus (road junction) in London. 

Near Picadilly Circus, you can find China Town. This place is important for me because I found Indonesian restaurant there.

I went here twice only to eat Indonesian food

Picadilly Circus

I also went to Stamford Bridge for Chelsea FC, but I don’t think you like football. So you can skip that. I went to Camden Market as well. People say the price there is cheaper if you want to buy souvenirs. But I think it’s the same with any other places, only Camden offers more variety with more shops.

If you love Harry Potter, you can go to King’s Cross Station to see that famous Platform 9 ¾. There’s also Harry Potter shop near the platform. I almost – almost – bought this gorgeous Gryffindor sweater but it’s very expensive. So I bought the pin instead hehe..

People are queuing for Platform 9 ¾

I also went to Madamme Tussauds Museum. Actually that’s the first place I wanted to visit in London. The 13-year-old me read an article about this wax museum from a magazine. There were two pictures: one was the real actor, the other was the wax figure. The reader must guess who the real person was and I got it wrong. I was amazed with the detailed of the wax figure. Then I told myself that one day I would go to this museum to see it myself. 

You know, I can go to Madamme Tussauds in Amsterdam, or even I can go to the nearest in Bangkok. But what I want was Madamme Tussauds London, so there I went to.

When I think about it, it’s funny that a dream can start from reading an article in magazine.

If I can go to London again, I think I will love to go to Windsor Palace. I heard it’s nice and you can enter it, unlike Buckingham.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your stay in London. I know you will. The places I mentioned are only my preferences, I’m sorry I can’t tell you the best place to have a big glass of beer or the coolest place to dance haha!

Cheers,

A

SNSD: Facts, Rumours, and All Other Little Things

It’s been more than a month since Jessica was forced to leave SNSD by SMent and ‘the other 8 girls’. I remember waking up in the morning to find #SICA and #JESSICA was on TTWW. It took seconds for me to know why, thanks to twitter. Initially I thought it was a joke. I mean, this is SNSD! Their strong bonding was well known. And this is about Jessica, one of their main vocalists! One of the most popular members with huge fandom for her alone! It seems impossible that SMent and ‘the other 8 girls’ took a decision to expel Jessica from SNSD. But then I had to take it as the truth after SMent confirmed the news in the same day. It was no joke. I felt hurt.

I don’t consider myself as a SONE (SNSD’s loyal fan), but I admit that I like their songs. Oh yeah, there was a time when I underestimated SNSD. I thought they only sell their beauty with no talent whatsoever. I even thought that they don’t really sing. I imagined some other people sing in the backstage and SNSD just do lip-sync. But then I learned about SNSD and I found interesting stories behind them and k-pop in general.

K-pop wave aka hallyu is huge in Indonesia. Super Junior and SNSD were (and are) the biggest. They both are from SMent. I know I’m always late when it comes to trend. While Super Junior hypnotised thousands of ELF and SNSD did the same with SONE, I was still listening to ‘western’ boysband like Backstreetboys and Westlife. I preferred Spice Girls to SNSD. I was not a k-pop enthusiast until I continued my study in The Netherlands in 2013. Yeah, I’m new in this k-pop fandom.

You see, in The Netherlands I got 24/7 internet connection. It was fast and free. It’s like a dream comes true from people whose internet connection in their home country is slow. I know it sounds weird but when in the Netherlands, I really missed anything related to Asian. I didn’t consider myself only as Indonesian, I saw myself as an Asian. K-pop is one of Asian’s symbols. With this 24/7 internet connection and a bunch of curiosity, I listened and watched k-pop songs and k-series. If only I knew they could be so addictive…

I started to recognise Super Junior members. It was pretty easy because they have different look and style. It’s not the same with SNSD. Their first music video (mv) I watched is “The Boys”. I knew SNSD consisted of nine members, but I couldn’t tell who is who. They looked the same (except for Sunny because she was the only one with the short hair). The first member I knew is Yoona because she is the face of SNSD. Even so, in “The Boys” I had mistaken her with Jessica and Taeyeon.

It took me weeks before I knew the name of each member in SNSD. It took months for me to recognise their voice (I was surprised that they do sing). I started to watch more music videos of them, I even enjoyed their reality shows also their performance in many other shows. I also like their dances; I tried to copy but I failed miserably. I read articles and blogs about SNSD, and like I said earlier, I found interesting stories about this national girlsband of South Korea.

SNSD (or Girls’ Generation) were formed in 2007 by SMent. They were formed to be the female version of Super Junior which was a big hit in Korea. Before SNSD’s debut, SMent did the training for potential members since 2000. And guess what, Jessica is the first member to be in the training!It’s sad that she is also the first to leave. Sunny was the last member to join in 2007. SMent didn’t merely look for singers for SNSD. I think this also applies for any other girlsband/boysband from SMent. It explains why some members in SNSD are good in singing while the others are not but good in anything else, like dancing, acting, or modelling.

Let me start with the members. SNSD had nine members: Taeyeon, Yoona, Yuri, Sooyoung, Hyoyeon, Seohyun, Sunny, Tiffany and Jessica. The last three were American born eventhough it’s only Tiffany and Jessica that are fluent in English (Tiffany even has thick Californian accent). In general, SNSD is divided into two roles: singing and dancing. The main vocalist were Taeyeon, Jessica, Tiffany, Seohyun, and Sunny (I put it from the strongest to the weakest based on my opinion). The main dancers were Hyoyeon, Yuri, Yoona, and Sooyoung. With this scheme, it’s ridiculous to ask Yoona to sing as good as Tiffany, or ask Jessica to dance as powerful as Yuri. While Taeyeon is the leader of singing team, Hyoyeon is the leader of dancing team. However, in general Taeyeon is the leader of SNSD. Yoona holds a special position as the face of SNSD. 

If you really try, it's easy to tell who is who (source: Google)

Why Yoona? Well, in Korean standard (I read it somewhere), she is the prettiest in SNSD. Korean love her. She is also the first actress in SNSD to play in several k-series. No wonder she is considered as the most famous member in SNSD (at least in Korea). Unfortunately, she is also the member with biggest amount of haters. Haters think she can’t sing, dance, or act well which I don’t agree. Yoona may be weak in singing and acting, but her dancing skills are cool. Besides, she has many commercial films. It must be for some reasons, right?

As the face of SNSD, Yoona often has a central position in a photo shoot or dance choreography. Camera loves her. A blogger pointed out that in “The Boys”, Yoona has 36 seconds for herself in the beginning of the video while the rest (8 other members) had to share 24 seconds for them all for the intro.

In their early years, SNSD stayed in a dorm together where they did the training. I watched their documentary “Girls’ Generation Goes to School” and I learned they practiced hard. There was a scene in which Jessica almost passed out because she was exhausted. Their success was not without pain.

I learned about Korean culture while enjoying k-pop. In the beginning, SNSD was the ‘dongsaeng’ (junior) but now they are the ‘sunbae’ (senior). As the junior, SNSD showed the respect to their senior by taking a bow when they met them. SNSD’s members are not in same age. To the older members, younger members call them ‘unnie’because they are all female. For older men, SNSD’s members greet them with ‘oppa’. Younger men will call SNSD ‘noona’. Younger men will call older men ‘hyung’. Seohyun is the youngest in SNSD so she has a nickname ‘maknae’. For the same age or younger members, they only call name because they close to each other. However, in some TV show they put ‘-ssi-‘ after someone’ name to show respect and formality.

SNSD’s first single was “Into the New World” in 2007 but they really got public attention in 2009 with “Gee”. This song is the most-watched SNSD’s mv. SNSD put a platform about what Korean girlsband look like: pretty, thin, cheerful, and cute (watch “Gee” and you know what I’m talking about). This stereotype was criticized by many, but also loved by many as well. In further k-pop development, another girlsband like 2NE1 avoid this stereotype and have their own style.

Plastic surgery is always mentioned in any discussion (or debate) about Korean’s idols. What about SNSD? Google and you will find the answers. Die-hard SONE will say SNSD didn’t do the surgery. For me, I believe they did it eventhough I don’t know to what extent. I mean, plastic surgery is so common in Korea it becomes a gift from parents to their children. To be fair, I also can’t neglect that make up does make differences. Korean’s eyebrows are popular in Indonesia right now. It does change the appearance. Hyoyeon is the perfect example for this. Her before and after appearance is more or less influenced by her eyebrows make up look.

SNSD are famous for their dance. They always have something unique in their dance. SONE have nickname for each dance like ‘crab dance’ for “Gee” or ‘leg dance’ in “Genie/Tell Me Your Wish”. “Hoot”, “Run Devil Run” and “Mr Taxi” are my favourites.

Before I’m into k-pop, I was so into classical music. I listened to Hayley Westenra, Celtic Woman, and Josh Groban. I enjoyed soothing and calming music; I did enjoy the voice. But in k-pop, I purely enjoy the music and the beat. I don’t really care about the voice. Good enough is enough. In SNSD, only Taeyeon that has top quality for singing. The other main vocalists have weaknesses; some aren’t powerful enough, some aren’t stable. They are one or two levels below Taeyeon, even for Jessica. But then music is about taste. Taeyeon may be the best singer in SNSD, but I prefer Jessica’s voice.

When it comes to SNSD’s songs, my ultimate favourite is “All My Love is for You”. It’s a bit ironic because it’s in Japanese instead of Korean. I also enjoy “Beep Beep” (also in Japanese), “Dancing Queen” “Oh!”, and “Way to Go.”

In 2012, SNSD’s subunit TTS were formed. TTS is the abbreviation for Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun. This subunit focuses on vocals with fewer dances. TTS’ songs are more ‘difficult’ compared to SNSD’s. I can’t imagine “Twinkle” and “Baby Steps” are sung by SNSD. It will be a mess. Actually I wondered why Jessica was not a part of TTS. In my opinion, her vocal is better than Tiffany or Seohyun. Later I knew that SMent was rumoured to form JungSister that consisted of Jessica and her younger sister Krystal Jung (she is a member of girlsband f(x)). Too bad it was never happened as the problem occurred between Jessica and SMent. I also heard there will another SNSD subunit that focuses on dance. Hyoyeon must be on the list if it ever happened.

In Korea, idols belong to the company (especially when it’s SMent) and fans. Everything they do is ruled by the management and for fans’ services. They have a long list of do’s-and-dont’s. Being in romantic relationship is one of the top of don’ts.

In the beginning of this year, SMent confirmed Yoona’s relationship with Lee Seung Gi. It was shocking because usually management tries to hide this kind of news. Lee Seung Gi’s management also supported this couple. Fans are usually against their idol’s relationship, but Yoona and Lee Seung Gi proved it wrong. I can say people love them more as a couple.

Lee Seung Gi is a singer and actor. He is my bias (bias is a term to show that you are a fan of someone). I like him in his famous k-series “The King 2 Hearts”. He is well known as a sweet, smart and down to earth guy. In Korea, it’s common to ask idols about their ideal partner. For years, Lee Seung Gi always mentioned Yoona as the answer. Lee Seung Gi had to compete with many male idols who also answered Yoona as their ideal girl. He won her heart eventually! Many people say that Lee Seung Gi is lucky to get Yoona, but for me, Yoona is luckier to have Lee Seung Gi.

After Yoona and Lee Seung Gi, Sooyoung was also confirmed to date Jung Kyung Ho. Unlike Yoona’s, Sooyoung’s relationship wasn’t really well received by fans. It’s because Sooyoung was considered lying to fans for years about her relationship. But the biggest disappointment was referred to Jessica with her rumoured boyfriend Tyler Kwon. Tyler was mentioned as one of the reasons why Jessica was expelled from SNSD.

Well, it’s not really about Tyler actually. Jessica was out because she insisted to build her own company ‘Blanc and Eclare’. She was into design and with the help of Tyler, she was encouraged to take a move. SMent and the other members thought Jessica would not give 101% for SNSD if she had her own company. Jessica was forced to choose between SNSD and ‘Blanc and Eclare’. While the negotiation was on (after several meetings), Jessica was expelled one day before SNSD’s meet and greet in China. The heart breaking part was Jessica was not aware of the situation that she flew back from New York to attend the meet and greet. She must be devastated and felt betrayed. I can understand if SMent did it, it’s only about benefits and losses. But what about the other members? They have been together for 14 years but it seemed not enough for them to keep themselves as nine. SONE now are divided into pro-Jessica, pro-8 girls (OT8), and pro-SNSD when it still had nine members (OT9).

As the main vocalist, Jessica had many lines to sings. In SNSD’s latest concert in China, I knew some Jessica’s lines were covered by Sunny, Yuri, or Tiffany. It felt wrong to listen her lines were sung by other members. Moreover, in SNSD’s recent song “Mr Mr”, Jessica sang a part in which she had to interact with male dancer. Her moves and voice in that part were so iconic it was weird when Sunny replaced her.

Anyway, past has passed. Now SNSD only consist of eight members. It seems impossible to bring back Jessica to SNSD. It hurts a little to see Jessica is written as the former member of SNSD in Wikipedia. It hurts a lot when I realised I didn’t watch their concert in Indonesian (twice) simply because I didn’t like them at that time. Their second concert was when I was in The Netherlands. I missed the chances.

I only hope someday SNSD will return to Indonesia. I want to watch them live. It will be a bonus if they come with Jessica. Maybe Jessica can sing in one or two songs. SNSD feat. Jessica Jung. Oh well, I think I dream too much…