Stressful day in Korea for 600,000 kids

You know exams are around the corner when fellow colleagues start taking leave enmasse and attendances at temples and churches start to increase phenomenally. But nothing beats what the South Korean government is doing for their future talents.

Was watching the evening news on the telly earlier when it ran the story of the college entrance exam now taking place in South Korea. The news clip showed images of kids trooping into the examination halls while parents looked on nervously outside.

What's even more interesting is the actions that the government took to 'assist' the South Korean kids. Civil servants are asked to reported for work 1 hour late to reduce traffic. Even the military are avoiding 'loud', read 'live' firing etc., activities near the examination halls.

When the government pulls its weight behind the exams, they way it did in South Korean, you know that the exams must be a big deal over at Korean.

Doing well not only determines the career prospects of the kids, it apparently determines one's marital prospects in the future. Talk about a 'pressure-cooker' society. And I thought we have it bad in Singapore.

Anyway, here's wishing all the exam-takers "행운! (haeng un)", or good luck! Hmmm... "haeng un" sounds deceptively like the Chinese words 好运 (hao yun), which also means "good luck"!


Read on for a news article from Yonhap News Agency on this:

Students take state-run exam for college entrance

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- Nearly 600,000 high school
students and graduates took the yearly state-run college entrance exam Thursday,
as government officials reported to work late to reduce traffic for exam takers
and military flights were halted to minimalize noise near exam
venues.

Public workers were advised to come to office one hour later than usual to ease traffic
congestion during the early morning rush hour for exam takers.

Police mobilized motorcycles to help transport some late exam takers, and the military halted flight operations and banned shooting drills near the test venues for fear of distracting the students taking an English language listening comprehension test.

"More than 584,000 applicants took the College Scholastic Ability Test at 980 test venues across the nation," a spokesman for the Education Ministry said.

Composed of listening and written tests on a range of subjects including language, mathematics, science, and economics, the one-day exam runs though 6:05 p.m.

Applicants are mostly high school third graders with some high school graduates and college students taking the exam again this year to enter more competitive colleges and universities.

OST - The First Shop of Coffee Prince

The music in The First Shop of Coffee Prince really conjures images of cafes and hot cups of coffee. Track 10 - Polly, is one of my favourites.

Enjoy!

DVD Boxset 2 for The First Shop of Coffee Prince is now available!

Somebody must be listening to the grouses of Korean drama fans in Singapore. If not, what can be the reason for the sudden influx of the latest Korean drama titles on the shelves of dvd shops? Well, I am definitely not complaining!

Today, with my purchase of the second box set of the dvd for The First Shop of Coffee Prince drama series, I can finally declare that I have the full collection. Yay!

Frankly, I can't wait to start watching the whole series again! Just got to make time for it though.

A gripe I have is that HMV 'overcharged' me by $7! If you look at the price tag in the picture below, which is a scan of my dvd box, the box set is going for $25.90 per set at the shops. So, Hellohallyu recommend all Korean drama fans to play their smart money on non-HMV shops, such as TS and Poh Kim, to get your Coffee Prince dvds.


If Yoon Eun Hye and Gong Yoo are not incentives enough for you to buy this series, than perhaps the free coffee that comes with each box set may loosen the purse strings a little. Yes, TS is actually giving a packet of Super Coffemix 3 in 1 (containing 10 satchets) for the purchase of each boxset.

Now you can catch Go Eun Chan and Choi Han Hyul in action while sipping on a hot cup of aromatic coffee. What a wonderful way to enjoy a Korean drama.

A cuppa to go with the drama!

Song Hye Gyo's advertisement for Reom

Here's something which I found in Soompi Forums today.

It's a video clip showing the "making of" an advertisement for the Roem winter clothing line starring Song Hye Gyo. The accompanying music has a nice beat too.

Here's a still picture of the site and video which I took with my trusty "printscreen" button.

(Source: Reom.com - printscreen by HelloHallyu)

DVD for The First Shop of Coffee Prince is now available in Singapore

Imagine my joy when I saw the dvd boxset for The First Shop of Coffee Prince on a shelf in HMV Citylink Mall last weekend.

Nine to 12 months is, or used to be, the norm for dvds of the hottest Korean dramas to reach Singapore's shores. Being able to get my hands on Coffee Prince in Singapore, barely 3 months after its screening in Korea, definitely qualifies as a hugely wonderful experience.

For fans who are itching to watch this drama, head down to HMV Citylink Mall and head for the section for dvd-drama. The boxset, 1 out of 2, costs S$32.90 and comes in the Code 3 version. I will be keeping a lookout for the release of the second boxset. I will update again once I get my hands on the second boxset.