Inspire Me Korea - June Café Box

   Yesterday I finished the last of the snacks from the last Inspire Me Korea box (yep I can make those suckers last) and was REALLY looking forward to the snacks in this box but I got something better. Let’s get into it!

          The first things that came out of the box were all made of paper. There was the Inspire Me Korea magazine about cafés. I love reading those magazine because they are so informative about what is going on in Korea in that month and about aspects of Korean culture. The interviews included are always interesting. There was a signed exclusive postcard of BTS and songwriter Melanie Fontana. She wrote Boy with Luv and Euphoria. I’m sure you all know I’m not a BTS Stan but I like some of their songs and this is an awesome item to have. There was also the language card which is focused on Café culture. 

          Next out of the box was a Rose Heart sheet mask (or the other option would have been a cactus mask) and a cute French fries pencil case. 

          Next came two things that I think took the place of Korean snacks and I am fine with that. Tea and coffee. I’m okay with tea, but I am a coffee addict and proud of it. I love the Korean coffee mixes for cold coffee since they have milk in them.

          The final three items are all Kpop merch. There was two badges: Stray Kids “we goin’ Higher” and BTS “Boy With Luv” . There was also a set of NCT127 photo cards. I loved all of these!

          This was a great box in terms of Kpop merchandise, café and COFFEE!!!!!

KPOP Projects: Short Introduction to KPOP History

          Believe it or not Kpop did not start with BTS or even EXO Kpop started way back in 1885. The first Kpop album was "This Tumultuous Time" by Park Chae-Seon and Lee Ryu-Saek in 1925 and it contained popular songs translated from Japanese. The first Kpop song written by a Korean was "Fallen Blossoms on Running Water" sung by Jeong-suk in 1929.

          From the 1940s to the 1960s western influences entered the scene thanks to the American Troops stationed in South Korea (The Korean War). In the 1960s Beatlemania hit South Korea and the first rock bands started to form. The Add4 and Key Boys were some of the first rock bands to be formed.

ADD4

Key Boys

          In the 1970s DJs started to become popular, while in the 1980s ballads were the popular thing. It wasn't unto the 1990s that Kpop developed into the form it is in now. Korean pop musicians incorporated Europop, hip hop, rock, jazz, and electronic dance music into their songs. The emergence of Seo Taiji & boys was the turning point and coincidentally this is about the time I started to really tune into kpop, where as before I was just an occasional listener (mid 1980s onward).

Seo Taiji & Boys 

(and yes that is papa YG there)

          Then came Solid in 1993, Duex in 1994, Yoo Seun-jun and Jinusean in 1997, 1TYM in 1998 and Drunken Tiger in 1999.

Solid

Duex

Yoo Seung-jun

Jinusean

1TYM

Drunken Tiger

          It was also in the mid 1990s when the BIG THREE were formed. SM Entertainment was formed in 1995, YG Entertainment was formed in 1996 and JYP Entertainment was formed in 1997.

IDOL BANDS:

          Idol bands are young boy and girl bands that were inspired by Seo Taiji & Boys and they cater to teenage audiences. One of the first Idol Bands was H.O.T. formed in 1996, and their success led to the formation of other groups.

H.O.T. 

(and yes that is Kangta in the back there with the black hair)

Groups formed thanks to the success of H.O.T.

Sechskies (1997)

S.E.S (1997)

NRG (1997)

Baby V.O.X. (1997)

DIVA (1997)

SHINHWA (1998)

Fin. K. L. (1998)

GOD (1999)

**These aren't all the groups formed in the 1990s but the most well know and some of them like GOD and SHINHWA are still going strong.

          The early 2000s gave us amazing groups like TVXQ (2003), SS501(2005), Super Junior (2005), Big Bang (2006), Kara (2007), SHINEE (2008), 2NE1 (2009), 4Minutes (2009), T-ara (2009), F(x) (2009), and After School (2009). Groups like TVXQ (in all its incarnations), Big Bang, and SHINEE are still going strong. Again these are not all the groups but some of the most well know of that time. History is still being written by groups like VIXX, EXO, BTS, Girl's Generation, BLACK PINK, Ikon, and most recently ATEEZ.

MY STANS:

          In the next series of posts (interrupted by some reviews and hauls), I'm going to start introducing the groups I stan starting with my ultimate stan to groups I love listening too. This is my preference and choice, it doesn't mean that other groups are not famous or good just that they are not my cup of tea. Here is the order: 

1. EXO

2. ATEEZ

3. Ikon

4. Big Bang

5. SHINEE

6. TVXQ/JYJ/KIM JAE JOONG

7. VIXX

8. Super Junior

9. Shinhwa/GOD

**all pictures belong to the various sites (please click on the pictures to be taken to the sites) and the groups and their companies. I don't own these pictures.

Inspire Me Korea - May Journalling Box

          I was very excited to see what was inside this box since I journal religiously. As usual, I wasn’t disappointed. 

          The first things I saw when I opened the box was the magazine and the language card. I haven’t read the magazine yet but I know it will have a lot of interesting information as usual. The language card was very exciting because it had words that can be used in journalling. 

          The next thing that came out of the box was this cute snack notebook. There are four different food character-themed designs. I got the juice one. I wouldn’t use this for journalling because it is way too thin but I will be using it to jot down ideas for stories or blogs.

          The Bear mouth mask is so dang cute! It reminds me of nini bear (Kai from EXO). I really love it.

          The next two items are used in doodling and journalling. The first is an eraser and the second is a cute set of diary stickers.

          No Inspire Me Korea box is complete without a sheet mask (which I love) and some snacks (which I totally enjoy), and this box is no different. 

As usual an incredible box from Inspire Me Korea!

Kpop Projects: Introduction to my obsession...

          A lot of people ask me how I got into KPOP especially as I'm not really all that young...well brace yourself, KPOP didn't start with BTS. I mostly get this question from young people who started listening to KPOP through BTS, WannaOne, and so on. Well kids, I started listening to KPOP with groups like SechSkies, GOD, Shinhwa and a few others that I now vaguely remember. So yeah, I've been around for a long time. 

         

          I'm one of these people who is multi-fandom; I stan quite a few groups like Shinee, Super Junior, TVXQ in all their incarnations, VIXX, Big Bang, GOT7, iKon and of course my ultimate stan EXO. I've also recently discovered a new group that was formed at the end of 2018 called ATEEZ. I'm very impressed with them so far.

          So over the next few weeks, I'm going to give you an introduction to KPOP, and a look at all the KPOP groups that I stan. Some will be more in depth than others of course reflecting my degree of interest in them. All these posts will be marked as Kpop Projects so if this is not your cup of tea then you can just skip them. I'll probably do a post or two of some of my KPOP hauls as well. I have a lot of things that I have ordered at the end of last year and the beginning of this year that I want to show off. 

Inspire Me Korea

          As I was going out the door today Aramex was just delivering my Inspire Me Korea box so instead of leaving it at home I brought it to work with me. This is how excited I was about this box. The theme for this box is Hangeul (Korean Alphabet).

          So the first things you see in the box are snacks and a pen. And a tube of something that at first I thought was paint. 

          I am not a big fan of Seaweed because of the fishy smell but I will try anything in the Inspire Me Korea box because their snacks are all ways yummy. The other two snacks are safe choices for me and I’m sure I’m going to love them.

          At first I thought this was a tube of paint but as I took it out of the box I realized it was a tube of hand cream. I tried it and my hand thanks me, it is not too greasy and it smells amazing!

          This pen is geared towards calligraphy and it is water based. I like the way it writes and the ink is really smooth. 

          These cards are really simple and beautiful. The contain lyrics from EXO, BlackPink, and BTS. Everyone who knows me knows I’m an EXO stan and this song is one of my favorites from them.

          And now for the real reason for the box. Hangeul! The book is made by the Inspire Me Korea team and it helps with writing Hangeul beautifully. The Inspire Me Korea magazine has a lot of amazing information on Hangeul and I can’t wait to read every word instead of just skimming it (at work so that is all I can do right now). Finally, a card that has some phrases that might be useful in Korean. 

I LOVE THIS BOX