IVE (New South Korean girlgroup)

 

 

IVE (stands for I've) is a new korean girlgroup. They debuted in 2021 with the song "Eleven". 

 The members are:

 

- Kim Ga-Eul (known as Gaeul), born in 2002 (she's 21 year old now)

- An Yu-Jin (known as Yujin) born in 2003 (she's 20 year old now)

- Kim Ji-Won ( known as Liz) born in 2004 (19 year old now)

- Jang Won-Yeong (known as Wonyoung) born in 2004 (19 year old now)

- Naoi Rei (known as Rei) born in 2004 (19 year old now)

- Lee Hyun-Seo (known as Leeseo) born in 2007 (16 year old now)

 

All members are South Korean except for Rei, who is Japanese. She had to learn Korean before debuting in the group. K-pop is getting more and more popular nowadays overseas so it's not rare to see some foreign members in a Kpop group.  

I usually don't listen to new kpop (4th gen) except for Newjeans. But I wanted to give IVE a try, out of curiosity. And I actually like it!  even if I grew up with SNSD, fx, TVXQ, BoA etc I still love those former groups, but that doesn't mean new groups aren't talented, and I know now I should not sleep on new talented groups like Newjeans and IVE. I used to say "kpop was better before" but now Im getting more open-minded and listen to new groups as well.

I like this group. (IVE). Most of their songs are about self-love, self-confidence and goal-focusing and dreams coming true. It's very positive. Even before you read the translation of the korean lyrics, their songs sound positive and have a "self confidence" or "believe in yourself" vibes. 

I love the song " I AM". Because it's catchy and sounds positive and empowering. I like when Wonyeong jumps out of the plane and then you see all of the girls dancing on the plane's wing, it looks so cool! I think that the scene when Wonyoung jumps out of the plane means that you should "jump" on opportunities and never give up and making your dreams come true. I really like the meaning of this song and video. Very positive and powerful. I also like the song "Love Dive" because it has a catchy and beautiful pre-chorus, and the chorus sounds sassy. The dance break looks cool too.  I also love the song "Kitsch" because it sounds so badass especially the chorus with their lower vocals. 

Here's some songs of IVE :

                          

                                                               I AM :

                                            

                                                         LOVE DIVE : 

 

                                                      

             

                                                          

 

 

                                                      Kitsch:

                                                      

                                     

                                                              ELEVEN: 

 

                   

 

 

 

                                                                        AFTER LIKE (Live):                                

    

My trip to Japan (and some pictures of it!)

 

 

 

I finally visited Japan ! My trip was from 13rd November to 26th November 2023 !

I mostly stayed in Tokyo but tokyo is a big city so there was many many districts and areas to visit! I had to take the subway or the train to travel to another district!! because tokyo is very very big!

I went to traditional gardens with temples, parks, but also modern places like the highest tower (640m high or somethin) I went to the very top and took amazing pictures of the view that i'll share later!

I went to Shibuya crossing which is a road crossing with many many people crossing the road at the same time, you can see it in TV documentaries bout Japan and I experienced it!!! so cool

The places I visited:

- Tokyo Sky Tree (640m high tower)

- Tokyo Tower (another tower looking similar to Eiffel tower but red-orange color)

- Asakusa (traditional buddhist place with buddhist temples)

- Meiji-Jingu Shrine (Shintoist temples/shrines)

- Harajuku (district of crazy japanese fashion! (saw many people there dressed as anime characters or as japanese fashion styles like kawaii or goth lolita etc)

- Shibuya (very alive/vivid district even at night, you don’t get bored there!)

- Ginza (luxurious district, stuffs are pretty expensive there but nice to visit)

- Akihabara (electronics district, I bought USB sticks there and phone cases)

- Parks (yoyogi, shinjuku parks) very beautiful scenery of traditional japanese landscapes!)

- Hikarigaoka park (another park, known for its long alley/avenue with many autumn trees containing beautiful yellow flowers!)

- Roppongi (district known for its "wavy" building)

- Ueno park ( I visited the park itself, containing temples and there was a place where you could write something you wish on a wooden case and hang it in the temple for everyone to see. Japanese people believe that if they write a wish on that wooden case and hang it in the temple, the "gods" will fulfill that wish!) I wrote the wish of living in Japan and be happy forever xD

- Ikebukuro ((I visited an aquarium there in Sunshine city (big mall with 60 floors!) with many kind of fishes and sea creatures, was amazing!, there also was a planetarium)

- Cat cafes! was nice petting the cats!

- Owl cafes! Yes, it is a thing in Japan! I never petted an owl before, its very creative idea to create such cafe. I petted owls and my favorite one is that cute baby owl! It looked so cute! I petted it and it was gently nibbling my hand lol just like a cat) It was a nice experience! I never got so close to an owl before! I'm glad I did! they're adorable animals!

- I also went to several restaurants such as Ramen which are noodles in a soup broth but not like the boring noodle cups you find in western countries!!! the real Japanese ramen are A BIG BOWL of noodles, deep broth and with onions, vegtetables, meat and boiled eggs added! Very delicious and you feel full after that! (the bowls are really big)

- I also went to a creative sushi restaurant ! creative because you had to order the sushis you want on a kind of computer-machine, and when your order is ready, it slides on a kind of "corridor" on the table where everyone is sit in a line, and your order slides and stops right at your place and you can eat it!!! its very much cheaper price than luxurious sushi restaurants, and the sushis served there are still tasty.

What I loved bout Japan :

- Japanese people!!!! they're so nice!! In western world when you ask for a direction, they either ignore you or tell you "it's right there!" and thats it. Japanese people actually take the time to help you find the place you're looking for. Most of them I asked bout directions, didn't say "you go on the left, right there" etc ... They said "follow me" and showed you the place. Even if they were going to the opposite direction than you or even if they were late, they kept saying follow me and they walked like long time until they arrive at the place you're looking for, they actually made sure you could find that place/direction, even if that mean they give up on their appointment theyre going to etc and actually take the time and walk long time and you follow them. Very kind and amazing people!

- Theres no trash cans in Tokyo and despite that, Little to no trash on the ground! no cans, no bottles, etc... very rare to see in western world, where theres lot of trashcans outside but almost everyone throw their things on the ground.

- Japanese people line up in front of the train/subway and don’t go in until people leave the train. They also never cross the road if the light is red, even if no cars around driving on the road. They have high sense of self-discipline and respect. I loved it !

- Japanese toilets!! OMG it was amazing! It's very high-tech and creative! You have buttons when you push it, a water spray comes out and clean your private parts after you peed or pooped (sorry didnt find better words to describe that xD ) . Also in winter or when its cold weather, the toilet seats are warm!!! thanks to their advanced technology, even the toilets are futuristic there omg!

At first I had hard time with tokyo subway stations but the longer I stayed in tokyo, it became easier. The stations all have a different color, one color for one station. Example if you want to take the Ginza line, it's yellow. The trains/subways going to Ginza district are also yellow, so you can't mistake the line with another one! Hanzomon line is purple, Fukutoshin is brown, etc etc its really cool!

A trip I’ll never forget !

 

 

 

Some pics of my trip:

 

                                                                Tokyo Sky Tree Tower:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shibuya Streets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asakusa architecture:

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                          Ramen dishes:    

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                        Onigiri:

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                    Meiji-Jingu Temple:

 

 

 

 

 

                                          A cute owl at Owl cafe in Harajuku:

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                     Sushi:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A wish I wrote on those rectangular wooden cases:

 

 

 

 

 

Shibuya road:

 

 

 

 

 

Hikarigaoka park: 

 

                                                             Ueno Park: 

 

            

                                         

 

Differences between Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages (breaking the stereotype of "all asian languages sound the same")

 

 INFOS ABOUT ASIAN LANGUAGES AND THEIR DIFFERENCES (CHINESE, JAPANESE AND KOREAN)

 

Many people say chinese, japanese and korean are similar languages but they have many differences, pronunciation-wise, grammar-wise and even writting-wise (not all of them use "symbols" )

WRITTING:

Chinese has the hardest writting. All of the words have a specific symbol.

Japanese is mixed. They have borrowed some symbols from Chinese (kanjis) but they also created their own syllabic alphabets (hiragana and katakana). The main difference is, kanjis are 1900 of them or more, while there is only 46 hiragana and 46 katakana to learn. Katakana and Hiragana also have way less complicated strokes than the strokes of Kanjis. Hiragana is for japanese grammatical words. Kanjis are used for verbs and important words. As for Katakana, it's used to write foreign words immersed in Japanese language, like "CD" or "Stop" or any word that comes from foreign languages. Also foreign names. Example: My name is French (im french) so its not japanese. So I have to write my name in Katakana. If I was japanese born in Japan, i'd write my name in Kanjis.

All 3 writting systems (kanjis, hiragana and katakana) are important to learn because Japanese language uses all 3 writtings in a one phrase or text. So its important to learn the 3 of them, to be able to read Japanese when going to Japan etc.... Kanas (hiragana and katakana) are at least easier to learn than Kanjis because they're only 46 letters of them. Kanjis are more numerous (1900+ of them). Because kana only work on syllabs (ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, sa, shi etc..) it's like an alphabet with sounds, but syllabic ones. Unlike kanjis, which have one symbol for each word. ( Note: the meaning of a kanji (symbol from chinese writting) can be different depending on if it's Japanese or Chinese. The pronounciation of the same kanji can also be different depending on if you are in Japan or in China. )

The easiest writting between chinese japanese and korean is Korean. They do not use any symbol borrowed from China or Japan. They only have an alphabet with vowels and consonnants, just like latin alphabet. No need to learn 38377272626 symbols lol. Plus, Korean alphabet is very easy to learn and to write, as the letters are very very very basic-like. I mean theres mostly circles and lines. No difficult strokes. Theres one letter that is only written with ONE circle. like this: o <== this is a korean letter. lol. Easier than chinese symbols or japanese with their 3 writting systems.

 

PRONUNCIATION:

Pronounciation-wise, Japanese is easiest. Chinese has too many weird complicated sounds like "xiang, xiu qhui qiang chu" etc... it's a bit cliché but it's mostly sound like that. Japanese, tho, doesnt sound like that at all. Their words always end with a vowel mostly. Arigato, Watashi, Sayonara, etc.. many japanese words have vowels and basic sounding words, unlike chinese with their qiang chzui sounds lol.

Chinese has tones also. Some words are pronounced with higher tone, or lower tone. And if two words are spelled or pronounced the same but has different tones on each other, then both words can mean totally different things to each other. I mean, same word, but if different tone = different meaning. Like "mai" can mean both to sell or to buy, depending on the tone you pronounce "mai" with (higher or lower vocal tone). It's confusing lol.

Korean and Japanese do not have tones at all.

 

 

GRAMMAR:

Grammar-wise, even if chinese has the hardest writting and hardest pronunciation, they have the easiest grammar between japanese and korean. Chinese is subject + verb + object like in English. And theres no conjugations (the verbs stay the same, never change, even if the tense changes. Only the context can indicate if you talk bout past or future tenses, like adding obvious words such as "next week", or "last month" etc

Japanese and Korean tho, have a more unusual grammar. The word order is Subject + Object + Verb. Verb is always at the end. If you wanna say somethin like: "there is bread on this table" Japanese and koreans will say it like this: "this table on , bread, there is" totally different word order, while chinese word order is closer to English.

Easiest writing: Korean
Easiest pronunciation: Japanese
Easiest grammar: Chinese

List of different Asian cities (part 2 )

 

 

 

 

                             Most beautiful cities in Asia (part 2)

                                                      Macao

                           

Macau is a big city located in China. Just like Hong-Kong, Macau is very developped and has its own politics, being democratic and liberal and open on the world market.

The official currency is "pataca".

Official languages in Macau are :  Cantonese chinese, Mandarin chinese and Portuguese, Because of a past portugual colonization on Macau. The population is very various, there is portuguese people there, as well as chinese people.

____________________________________________________________________

                                               BUSAN 

 

                       

Busan, or Pusan (pronounced Poo-San) is the 2nd most populated city in South Korea, after Seoul. Busan is also very rich and developped, and is a cultural city, that welcome the South Korean Cinema festival every year, it's a bit like Cannes in France, but for Korean movies festival.

 

_____________________________________________

 

 

                                  Bangkok

 

                              

Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand. A very beautiful and developped modern city (see the first picture just above), but also a city with some traditional thai landscapes (see the 2nd picture just above). Thai culture is a mix between Chinese culture and Indian one. The Thai writting system looks a little like Hindi writting.

Bangkok is not as developped as Hong-Kong, Seoul, Taipei or Tokyo but it is quite rich and developed. More than Cambodia, for example.

Bangkok has a tropical climate. With two main seasons: The dry season, from November to April, and the raining season from May to October. In 2017, Bangkok has been named the warmest/hottest city in Thailand, with 28C.  It is a hot and tropical climate, unlike Japan and South Korea which are "normal" climates and 4 seasons, just like western countries.

 

__________________________________________________

 

                                     Shanghai

                                 

                     

 

Shanghai (pronounced Shang rr'hai [very strongly expired H ] is a city located in China.

Shanghai is a very big city, and more open on the world market and less strict/dictatorial than Mainland China.

Shanghai is a very active city economically, and developped, just like New York, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney.

 

Different Asian Cities (with beautiful pictures!) (part 1)

 

 

                 List of my favorite Asian cities that I want to visit

                                          TOKYO 

Tokyo is the capital city of Japan. This city is very developed, rich, modern, even futuristic. We can see there some big TV screens located on the high buildings. It's even more stunning at night with all of the lights and such. And Japanese technology is very advanced. There is humanoid robots there (robots with realistic human looking face).

Tokyo contains lot of areas, Shibuya is one of my favorites. Tokyo Sky Tree is a tower located in Tokyo. It is the highest tower of Japan (634m high) and there is planetarium, aquarium, hotels, restaurants, malls and even an ice skating place all in the tower. Very high and big.

Tokyo, and especially Shibuya, is very lively, at night.

___________________________________________________________________

                             HONG KONG

                                     

Hong-Kong is located in China. But has more freedom and less dictatorship than mainland China. Hong kong has its own identity as well:  their own currency (hongkongese dollar), their own politics (democracy) and their own chinese language (cantonese chinese, while mainland china speaks mandarin chinese instead.) Hong-Kong people speak English very well, because of a past british colonization, before being re-taken over by mainland China.

Hong kong is very beautiful at night as well (see pictures above), and very developed place. The hong kong bay is stunningly beautiful as well. With the water and lights reflecting on the water. There is some touristic boats that float on the bay as well, very pretty.

___________________________________________________________

                                               SEOUL

Seoul (pronounced like "Soul" in korean) is the capital city of South Korea. It's also one of the most beautiful asian cities as well, along with Tokyo, Kyoto, Hong Kong and Taipei. Seoul is also very lively at night, malls are opened at night and lot of people walking around in the night streets. The picture above with the water flowing is called the "Cheonggyecheon Stream" which is also a beautiful place, especially at night. Seoul is one of the cities I want to visit, as well as Japan cities (tokyo, kyoto). I love both Japan and South Korea!!

_______________________________________________________

                                  KYOTO

                                                  

Kyoto is a city in Japan. It's the total opposite of Tokyo: Kyoto has more traditional japanese vibes, with gardens, temples, traditional-looking architectural houses, people wearing kimono dress etc.. It's very different from Tokyo, but not less beautiful. Kyoto is also a city you have to see and experience!

_________________________________________________________________

                                          TAIPEI

                                          

Taipei is the capital city of Taiwan. Taipei is located on the northern part of Taiwan. Very rich and developed city, compared to Tainan, which is located in the southern part, but less developed and more traditional. Taipei is also a beautiful city (see pics above). It's one of the asian cities I want to visit, as well. China has lot of bicycle driving, but Taipei (Taiwan), has lot of bikes. (scooter bikes, less fast and easier to drive than actual motorbikes). 

Taiwan currency is Taiwanese dollar and they speak mandarin chinese over there. 

Ok now this is the end of my post. Hope you enjoyed it, and the pictures as well :)   I will make a 2nd part of this post about asian cities tomorrow, which that time will be about Macau, Shanghai, Bangkok and Busan. See you next time! 

 

The most beautiful seasons in Japan!

 

 

 

There is 4 seasons in Japan: Spring Summer, Autumn, Winter.  Those seasons have unique features and blossoms/trees, depending on if it's autumn, spring or another season..

List of beautiful seasons in Japan:

                                            1. Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)

Sakura (also known as Cherry blossoms) is mostly there during Spring in Japan. Which is around Late March- Early April. It is a beautiful season thanks to the cherry trees avenues, and the cherry blossom flowers falling from the trees and covering the ground. Cherry blossom flowers are mostly Pink or White colored. Sakura season is very praised and loved by tourists, because it's so beautiful. The places/spots where you can admire cherry blossoms view is:   Ueno Park (Tokyo), Yoyogi and Shinjuku Parks (Tokyo) , Maruyama Park (Park in Kyoto which contains a huge stunning cherry tree. ) and Tetsugaku No Michi (Avenue in Kyoto with two lines of cherry blossoms with a river on the middle).

          ___________________________________________________________________

                                                            2.Koyo (Autumn leaves) :

 

  

  

 

                                                          Koyo is leaves (mostly red or yellow) happening in Autumn season in Japan (Late September - Early December).  It is less popular than Sakura but not less beautiful. Koyo is also stunning with its vivid red leaves that fall on the ground covering the ground with beautiful red color. Also beautiful red leaves trees. The red leaves mostly happen in Kyoto, while in Tokyo there is vivid yellow leaves (Gingko leaves) (see the first 3 pics above on the koyo part of this post) which also look stunning. The places you can admire Koyo is:  In Kyoto for red leaves:  Daigo Ji temple, Kiyomizu dera temple, Nanzenji, Kodaiji etc...  If you wanna see the yellow leaves, it's mostly in Tokyo in the famous avenue of Hikarigaoka park. 

                                    

                     _________________________________________________________________

                                                      3.  Winter in Japan: (Snow pics) : 

Winter in Japan is also very beautiful. Especially under snow. Winter in Japan is on Late December to Early March. Sometimes there is snow and that is even more beautiful!!  the traditional gardens in Japan and temples are covered with snow and it is also very pretty!  The places where you can admire the snow in Japan is Kifune Shrine (see pics above). And also Kinkakuji temple (see the first pic above in the "winter" part of this post). 

Then comes Summer. It is the least interesting season in Japan because no cherry blossoms, no autumn leaves and no snow to look at. Plus, there is lot of typhoons in Summer so it's not very recommanded to visit Japan during Summer. 

NEWJEANS (New Korean Girlband 2022)

 

                                                              NewJeans

 

I don't usually listen to 4th gen Kpop (I'm mostly a 2nd gen stan and love groups like SNSD, f(x), Singer BoA etc..)  But lately I discovered a new group that is very refreshing!!!  Called NewJeans. I like this group despite it is 4th gen Kpop because they give early 2000's music vibes. I like the song "Attention" because the dancing is creative:  They make their hair have a choregraphy too, lol. I mean when they dance, their hair "fly" around and are in total synch and that's very beautiful to see, also because they have amazing stunning healthy hair. I also like that they kept their hair in natural color (black) during their first debut live, while lot of Kpop stars dye it blonde or brown, which I have nothing against that, but I love asian natural hair:  Shiny glossy straight raven black hair , so beautiful!  This group is very refreshing because of their early 00's vibes and their dancing is on point, they are talented. And they are pretty and have beautiful hair. So that's a good surprise, especially for me because I usually mostly listen to 2nd kpop. But this group is really unique. 

Introduction:

This group was created in 2022. Members are :  Hanni (born 2004, 18 year old), Minji (also born 2004), Danielle (born 2005, 17 year old), Haerin (born 2006, 16 year old), and finally the youngest member Hye-in (14 year old, born in 2008). 

Most members are full Koreans. Only two members are foreign. Hanni is Vietnamese and had to learn Korean before debuting in this group. And Danielle, has a Korean mother and an Australian father, thus her face looks half white, half asian. She can speaks both English and Korean. 

                              Some videos of this group:

                                       Attention (Live) :

                                          

                                     Hype Boy (music video) : 

                                      

                                     HYPE BOY (Live): 

 

                                         

 

 

 

                                          ATTENTION LIVE MNET :

                                                                

                                                     

                                                          Hurt: 

                                 

                                                       OMG: (dance)

                        

   at 1:00 of the video, the dancing move (footwork?) looks impressive! they dance very well.

                                                 

                                        Cookie (Dance Ver practice): 

                  

 

I like at 3:03 of the video when they all sit down on the bench and start dancing , their dance synch is so amazing and their moves are so sharp and energetic! 

 

 

                           Ditto (Dance practice Ver) :

                                

                      Their dancing skills are on point!

 

                                   Enjoy watching!

 

 

                                      _____________________

 

                            New songs of newjeans (2023): 

 

                                      GET UP (Live)

                                          

                                         ETA (Dance Practice):

                                               

                                        Cool With You (Live):