dsl99a’s blog

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For various reasons I've decided to switch homes for my blog. Guess I'm getting bored...hehe...

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Hello world!!! I've been enjoying my day off doing absolutely NOTHING!!!! Slept in this morning because we stayed up late last night visiting with a bunch of friends who came to hang out at our pad in honor of our coupled friends who came in to visit from Colorado (and to watch the U2 concert tonight!). It was so good to see Rick and Bethany again--we've truly missed them!! Anyway, the weather lately has been cold and still very gloomy, so it's nothing like just being able stay cozy indoors. I know, I can be quite the hermit sometimes, but that's what they call a day off and I love it!!! :) Tomorrow it's back to the grind for me as the hotel prepares for a very hectic and chaotic weekend with the big annual Texas vs. OU football game here in Dallas. Yikes!

Today I've been mostly catching up with the excitement of the weekend. Rain's "Legend of Rainism" concerts in Seoul were a great success, and the pictures and clips have not stopped emerging all across the internet world. The debut of his trainees MBLAQ was also well-raved and well-accepted by the fans and media alike. We have been 'revived' again with his appearances, and we're getting more and more excited about all the good things that are coming up especially when his movie hits the theaters in November.

Anyway, I love it whenever I bump across this kind of picture of Rain:

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Just back from work and swimming a mile at the pool, so I'm pooped!!!!!!!! But just wanted to say one thing real quick...tomorrow is the first day out of 2 concerts that Rain will be having in his home country Korea (after his first stop in Japan). It's a highly-anticipated concert among the fans and media not just because of the fact that it's Rain, but many other Korean bands and stars will be there to watch him. AND, his trainees, the boy group named MBLAQ, will be making their debut for the first time ever at some point during the concert!!! So needless to say, everyone has been counting down to this special day.

Just wanna wish Rain all the best tomorrow, that the concert will be a great success and that he'll have a good time with his fans. Also crossing fingers for the boys during their debut as well. A lot of pressure on them since they have been trained by Rain himself for a few years now--even I'm feeling nervous for them!! And to all those peeps who will be there, HAVE A GREAT TIME!!! Hopefully we'll have pictures and clips to see soon, hehe....

Tomorrow marks a pretty significant day, one that over the years of growing up in Malaysia has been rather memorable for me. Since moving to the US, I can't recall ever 'celebrating' it in full force like how me and my family did back in the days, but it's mostly about the memories of the good times. (and don't worry, I'm not going to bore with you with the historical details, you can google that yourself, hehe...)

The things I miss about Moon Cake Festival (or mid-autumn festival) is the congregation of families and just having a jolly good time together. When I was younger, I remembered having the grandparents (and sometimes other relatives or close friends) over, and we'd have a full-spread of food and delicacies and sweets throughout the evening. Of course can't forget the assortments of moon cakes! Oh, how I crave and kill to have some now...

Mooncake

Right after sunset, we'd start lighting up the lanterns and these small, multi-colored candles on the walls of our yard and on the steel gates outside of our house. The more candles and more paper lanterns, the better. All we'd see were these glowing of lights in the dark, and with the rest of the neighbors doing the same thing, it was such a beautiful sight to see how the entire neighborhood would just glow in the dark. Best part was, Chinese families weren't the only ones doing this, but our Indian and Malay friends would follow suit (one of the best things about growing up in a multi-cultural country like Malaysia).

Later in the evening, we'd walk around the neighborhood with our paper lanterns. Most kids would do this towards the end of the night, going around in packs and admiring other houses that were lit up with candles and lanterns (and other decorations). It was also a good time to show off the cool kinds of lanterns that we had for that year! It was sort of like Halloween, just minus the costumes and the door-knocking. Some times other neighbors would offer us more sweets or moon cakes, and that was always an extra special treat. :)

I've been away for too long to know whether these fun traditions still continue among Malaysian children today. It was certainly one of the highlights of my childhood, and a tradition I hope to share with my children someday.

Oh, and before I forget, the Koreans are also celebrating this mid-autumn festival at the same time, except for them it's called 'chuseok' and it's a bigger deal for them because it's their version of Thanksgiving and a big traveling time where everyone heads home to be with their families. Just for fun, here's Rain..... (He's even decked out in a traditional Korean 'hanbok')

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I should be punished!!!!!! I have neglected my blogging due to many reasons, many of which aren't fault of mine. Although I must admit that I've also just been plain lazy and didn't want to bore everyone with the same old stuff. BUT, much has happened lately and I have no idea where to start. So perhaps I'll shorthand everything to keep you up to speed....

1. Still working at the W. I'm approaching my 8th month of work there---can you believe it?? Feels like I just got my job yesterday. It's still fun and exciting, but I'm exhausted as heck. They still have me working various shifts and lately due to 90-100% occupancies these past few weeks, I'd usually only have 1 day breaks in between instead of 2. Oh well...I'm still thankful at the fact that I do have a job that I enjoy. Conflict of personalities at work also suffices here and there, but which workplace doesn't ever have that kind of situation?

2. Along the lines of work, my husband got laid off for the 2nd time about 2 months ago. (wait, have I already blogged about this? I honestly don't remember...) Like I said before, I am thankful that I have job because we could be in a bigger world of hurt now. He is fine for the most part, physically and more important emotionally and spiritually. Some days are better than others, but his odd jobs here and there keep him going and sane. However, the job hunting continues...

3. My social life is still next to nil with the nature of my work. And I'm ALWAYS tired. It's been hard trying to motivate myself to head to the pool for my regular swim and I've noticed my body changing again, which is NOT a good sign. Exercising, on most days, is usually the last thing on my mind and I much prefer to stay in bed and eat. But I know I don't want to go back to where I used to be before a few years back. This is indeed a daily battle for me! 0_0

4. A lot of stuff is happening at home with my family in Malaysia too, so that's a slight burden on my mind daily. I don't want to get into detail with this, but I am close to my parents, so you can understand how that goes. I just wish we were a lot closer sometimes and that Josue and I weren't in our current situation. However, life happens and we learn to take take things in stride and believe that everything happens for a reason. I know God knows.

5. Last but not least, there's still Rain. I try and keep up with his news via my network of Rain friends and the sites that I go to regularly. Some days it feels exhausting to be his fan, so I don't do anything. But he has this strange ability of drawing people back, and eventually I just cave and get drawn back into his world. I know, it's weird. But Rain fans will know exactly what I mean. Anyway, he's been busy as usual, jet-setting here and there for all kinds of work as a busy CEO and entertainer.  Most of all we are looking forward to seeing him in person in LA come November for his Hollywood movie premiere. Crossing my fingers, but I hope to be there myself!!!!!!

So that's life as it is lately. I will try and be more proactive in updated my blog, but sorry, no guarantees! Regardless of everything, I have NOTHING to whine and complain about. Life could be far worse, but we are still very much blessed and I know my God is good. ^__^ 

I'll leave you guys with one of my favorite songs right now. Besides Rain, Epik High is a Korean band whom I listen to consistently, and I have the utmost respect for their music and for them as talented musicians. This is 'Heaven', off their latest album:

Work work work....that's basically my life these days! Seems like I have nothing else to talk about, bleah....No, it really isn't that bad overall. Still enjoying my work although most times I feel like I actually 'live' there more than my own house. In the mean time, we have house guests--from France. Yup, these are long time friends of my parents whom I haven't seen in more than 13 years!! They take annual summer trips overseas, so this time it's here in the US making Dallas their main hub while they are currently on a 3-week road trip around Texas, Louisiana, Tennesse and Arkansas. So they are currently away on their own exploring different cities around those various states and will be returning back to Texas towards the end of August. They're just awesome!

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Left to Right: Michel, Marie-Pierre and Josue

To keep myself sane from the insanity of work, I'm still keeping up with my K-pop and K-drama hobbies. Not watching anything in particular right now, but I was surprised by a sweet friend in Singapore when she sent me the complete set of "Boys Over Flowers" DVD. So I'm now beginning to 'relive' the moments again whenever I can sneak some free time to watch them. I still love this series!! And meanwhile, I'm also closely following the Wonder Girls and their tour around the US together with the Jonas Brothers. Oh, how I wish I can go see them next weekend as they'll be stopping by San Antonio and Houston!! But alas, for many reasons, I can't make it...sigh...want so badly to see them on their first ever debut stage here in the US. Guess following them on Twitter will just have to do for now. ;)

As for the main man Rain, well, I continue to have this love-hate relationship with him, except right now it's back to the love stage, haha....he's looking good these days and keeping on the down-low while preparing behind the scenes for his concert in Japan end of this month. Can't wait to see him back on stage again!! Anyway, he recently appeared in a few events, but my 2 favorite ones were his global fan meeting in Korea, and when he did a charity soccer match with Manchester United!! Never in my wildest dream would I ever imagine my 2 big 'loves' together: Rain and the Red Devils!!! Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime treat....

Here are some of my favourite pictures from those 2 events:

Always enjoy seeing Rain interacting with kids....^__^

Not bad for someone who supposedly doesn't do well with sports that involve a ball!

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Together with the Red Devils!!!! :)

And these are all from the fan meeting...he looked absolutely happy here!

I'm here at work and trying my HARDEST to contain my excitement (otherwise my co-workers are going to think I'm absolutely insane). The trailer for "Ninja Assassin" is FINALLY OUT!!!!!!! OOOMMMGGGG!!!!!! It is stinkin' good, and I'm not just saying this because I'm a supporter of Rain. It just looks so wicked and the reviews are going off the charts!!

Today is quite an auspicious day for the release of the trailer. Today is also the start of Comic Con in San Diego and Warner Brothers is supposedly doing a secret screening of the entire movie sometime tonight. I sense that today marks the beginning of endless promotions and shout-outs for this movie. Warner Brothers is truly feelin' this one and is totally confident that it's going to rock. I can't wait to see people's reactions to it, especially those who have no clue who Rain is!!

And more than anything, I am SO proud of him. As I've said over and over again, it's always like a love-hate relationship with him. Of course I'm judgmental of him whenever he does something that I think is unnecessary and wrong, and I try not to follow him blindly and be honest and critical of him once in awhile. But at the same time, I still have faith in what he does and he is GOOD at what he sets out to accomplish every single time. That's what makes him Rain. He's worked extremely hard physically, mentally and emotionally for this movie, and it's time he reaps the rewards and fame for it.

Here's the new official poster for Ninja Assassin:

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And hope you'll enjoy this exciting trailer as much as I am. So thrilled I just wanna scream!!!!!!

    I'm So Proud Of You, Rain!!!!

And no, by all means do I mean Rain!!! Hahahaha......

We went to attend a friend's wedding a few weekends ago, and another friend of mine there randomly took this picture of us, which I am currently totally in love with. She's a professional photographer, and I'm so thankful to her for doing this. It's truly one of the best pictures taken of us together by far!

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This morning is starting off rather interestingly. I've been up since 4:45 am; tossing and turning with a completely wired up brain and body. It's not like I have gotten enough sleep since I only turned in at around 11:30 the night before. I hate it when this happens especially knowing that I have a long day ahead of me.

But anyway, I usually start up my day by getting on Facebook (I know, I'm like addicted to it) and catching up on the lives of my friends all around. I had been aware since yesterday that some of my buddies were going to send Rain off at LAX late last night, so this morning I was extremely eager to hear all about their experiences and the brief time they had with him. However, when you have a message to you beginning with the following "Debbie, it's a good thing you weren't here...", you know more than likely it's not going to sound good.

Long story short, a few of my friends and others (a total of 7 people) ended up not having a good experience last night. Rain apparently was cold, distant, moody and just arrogant towards the girls. They weren't even being loud or anything, and were very respectful about giving him his space and not taking pictures of him and not asking for autographs. He didn't even smile or acknowledge them, like as if they weren't even there. Some of the girls left totally disheartened and just downright angry. (I'm sure there's more to this as well, but I won't go in depth into it)

Now I mention this because as you know, I've had thoughts of my own regarding Rain and honestly it's been a up and down battle lately; a big part of it is when I hear stuff like this happen to fans. And usually I tend to shake it off because I try and come up with excuses to back him up. Perhaps he's got a lot on his mind, maybe he's just exhausted, and then again he's probably just moody like he usually is known to be and we usually can understand that. But when it's now happened to my own friends? Mind you, they are DIEHARD fans of his, probably even more so than I will ever be, and have always loved him unconditionally. Last night was the last draw for a couple of them, and I'm sad to think that he might have lost a few more faithful ones because of his behavior and unprofessional attitude. *sigh* Even though I wasn't there physically, I can't help but feel for them and be personal about it.

As fans, we know we cannot expect much from him. It's our choice to follow and he does enough constantly to give back to us. And that's fine and dandy. But he truly has got to learn to behave professionally in public, ESPECIALLY if he's in a country where he's been trying to target its market and make a name for himself. The US is huge, and of course he's not as well-known here as he is Asia. Passing on the news about him being here is difficult enough, and secondly it's hard to recruit people at any time for him since we're all so spread out and because we always hear about him at such a short-notice. So he should be at least excited and thankful for the few who take their time and effort to come see him to show their love and support. Even if he's not 'feeling like it', as a professional you should know how to act in a certain way in public, whether the media is there or not. For crying out loud, he's an actor--that shouldn't be a problem for him! I don't think he really realizes how important US fans are because we can either make or break his chances here (harsh to say it that way but I believe it to be true). We've always been extremely patient fans; learning to deal with the fact that seeing him is a rare treat since he hardly ever comes our way for anything, supporting him from a distance in our own ways and as I mentioned before, taking the time and effort to get everyone together when the chance arises despite our distances and circumstances, and we try and make big strides in doing what little or much we can to help him launch his career here in the US, especially when Speed Racer was being promoted and now pretty soon with Ninja Assassin following suit. Asian fans get to see him all the time in some form or shape; we don't, and we've been okay with it. But we can't stay quiet like this anymore, especially not after what happened last night with my friends. That was totally uncalled for.

Also bear in mind that this is NOT the first time I've heard of such an instance. In the course of the last few months or so, I've come across other stories even from other fans in Asia (things they don't openly discuss in the websites and forums) about how they were mistreated in some form of fashion either by Rain or by his staff members or both. Nobody ever wants to talk about it because they either shake it off or just don't want to cause a huge stink for fear it'd tarnish Rain's name (yet again, the love and support of Rain fans). But come on, we can't allow this to happen any longer. Something has got to be done; not exactly sure how or what but we just cannot be taken for granted as fans. He has lost so many who has supported him from the beginning and now simply cannot afford to lose more for obvious reasons. 

Just as my other friend said from her experience last night, I will continue to support him in what he's trying to achieve and accomplish, but I can't just sit back and follow him blindly. Of course, this might come back to bite me whenever I have the next golden opportunity to see him again because I just might be too star-struck to think straight and will hastily forgive him for all that has happened. They say 'love is blind', and perhaps it might be true in his case. But I don't love Rain that way, and I hope for the sake of sanity (and for his own) that other fans won't either and will be able to make their own judgment and hopefully not be disappointed in the end.

Okay, so this is my first blog for the month of July after long weeks of absence, and sorry to say that this is going to be a slight of a venting session for me. *sigh*

Today is a significant day--the day when we say goodbye to the King Of Pop. Of course, it's never going to be a goodbye to him because he will live on forever in our hearts, but it's more 'official' now that there is his body in the casket and an actual service for him. The memorial service was held at Staples Center in LA, and thousands of lucky fans through a lottery system won tickets to the memorial, including my lucky friend Jan!! I'd have given almost anything to go with her and she said she'd brought me along with her, but sadly, I'm too far away. Anyway, I was excited for her to know that she would be going there and mourning and celebrating with fellow fans and people who love MJ and want to honor him.

The memorial was televised worldwide through all kinds of media networks, but alas, I was unable to even catch the event on TV because of WORK!!! Ugh!!!!!!! Terribly upset about this. I hope the memorial will be shown again somehow someway.

Ironically at the same time, we also found out that Rain secretly snuck into LA this morning. He is a huge fan of MJ and his dance moves have been inspired by him, but no, he did not come to LA for him. He came for work but by the time LA fans found out that he was arriving this morning, it was too late for anyone to greet him at the airport. Sneaky guy! Anyway, I'd like to think that perhaps Rain might have a little time to head over to Staples and the surrounding area to pay his last respects to the man who was his teacher and mentor. A bittersweet moment indeed, considering how Rain had wanted to meet MJ personally someday but sadly has lost that opportunity now....

So for this reason, I sulk today. I sulk that not only was I not able to go with my friend Jan to the memorial, but I couldn't even catch the telecast on TV! And I also sulk that Rain is currently in LA. If I was there, I could've hit 2 birds with one stone! I'm so childish, right? Well, I know I am, but this is the fan-girling side of me that's out today, so just bear with me for the time being....

In the mean time, I continue to mourn the passing of MJ. We miss you already, Michael.