On a Hiatus…

Just realized the amount of work that I have for next week…

…..
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

This means that I should be on a hiatus for a week…

*cries*
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

Peace! <3

—Moonlight

No Such Thing

No Such Thing is one of my favorite songs by John Mayer. It is a song that many used to listen to back in my high school days and it was even used during one of the graduation ceremonies that I had attended. It makes me feel nostalgic.

The lyrics, “That something’s better on the other side,” is wrong as ‘that’ should be replaced with ‘but.’ I’m thinking that I should visit my middle school and take lots of pics. of it when I go back home, iA. That is the school where I first listened to this song.

On a random note, in my middle school, our mascot was the ‘Wildcats’ (reminds you of High School Musical, doesn’t it? =P) and in my high school, it was ‘Scorpions’ xD My undergrad. uni.’s mascot was the ‘Panther.’ On the other hand, I don’t think Australia is into this whole mascot thing. Since I’ve studied in an American curriculum for most of my life and have studied a bit in the Australian system, it’s easy to note the differences.

If you are in high school or uni., enjoy it! ^^

—Moonlight

TVXQ’s “Catch Me”

TVXQ!

Yesterday, SM Entertainment revealed TVXQ‘s Catch Me. The teaser for the song looked interesting so I was waiting for the release of the full music video. What can I say? TVXQ have always had strong vocals and dancing skills.

TVXQ…in a box…again! =P Besides this, the choreography for the song is AMAZING! The part where Yunho, Changmin, and all the dancers link arms and do the wave movement is very unique and blends well with the song. I also like the moment when all of them stomp on the water. It gives off a nice visual and sound effect. The dub-step was incorporated nicely in comparison to other K-Pop songs, but I felt that there were too many transitions between sounds in the last few seconds of the song. Also, I’m not really a big fan of auto-tune and Yunho‘s part, “Catch me if you wanna…” makes me laugh for some reason xD Moreover, SM Entertainment loves using the 360 degree camera movement, as seen in 4:01-2:03.

• Choreography: 10/10
• Song: 8.5/10
• Overall MV: 9.25/10

P.S. There is some derpiness going on in the still image of the YouTube video…isn’t there an option that SM Entertainment can use to display a particular moment in the music video as a still image? =P

—Moonlight

Pingu

It’s 2 A.M. and I’m bored. Now I’m sharing a cartoon that I used to watch when I was a toddler. My early mornings consisted of watching the cartoon, Pingu. It was really cute. I never realized how funny the show was until now.

 

• Pingu Goes Fishing

 

• Pingu at the Nursery

 

—Moonlight

The Moon and Stars

(Credit: To the rightful owner)

Never ignore a person who loves you, cares for you, and misses you. Because one day, you might wake up from your sleep and realize that you lost the moon while counting the stars

What a powerful quote… o.O

—Moonlight

“Stand Up” by J-Min

I love this song and its lyrics! Finally a rock song by SM Entertainment!

“Stand Up” by J-Min (English Translation)

Even if life is hard, don’t quit until the end
The sky will protect your side
Your footsteps are heavy, make some noise
You sink down and let out a sigh
But one more time, one more try

Look to the sky confidently
Now is just the beginning
Open your shoulders
Inside of you is someone like you
Don’t give up on your future even if it’s hard
Stand up, hold my hand, take the world

Like how petals fall when time passes
Clouds promise rain
Even if you’re struggling
It can change by whatever the sky wants
Don’t worry, never mind
Wait for that day

Look to the sky confidently
Now is just the beginning
Open your shoulders
Inside of you is someone like you
Don’t give up even if it’s hard, one more time
Stand up, hold my hand, stand up again (Stand up)

Stand up (Stand up)
Raise your head

Please don’t waver
Now is just the beginning
Open your shoulders
Don’t give up even if it’s hard, one more time
Stand up, hold my hand, stand up again

Observe and feel
Even if we’re different, my friend
You’re not alone, stand up again

J-Min is really talented. SM Entertainment needs to find more artists that can sing rock songs. I really love TRAX‘s old songs, such as Scorpio and Paradox, as well. The members looked so cool back than…kind of like a J-Rock band. I also love SuJu‘s Don’t Don. I loved it since the first time I listened to it. Funny thing, people used to find it very hard to believe that I listened to heavy-metal and rock music. It’s not until I actually dressed in black and wore spiky jewelry like I did in the past did people actually say, “You look like a rock star…” =P This was during my tom-boy phase. I have changed since then…I’m more girly now xD

Anyhow, it would be really nice if SM Entertainment released a rookie rock band ^^

—Moonlight

Giving Back To Society On Your Birthday

I saw a few friends sharing this video on Facebook and I thought this was excellent. The video is about how a person decided to do random acts of kindness instead of spending his time partying on his 22nd birthday (I can tell this was filmed in Pakistan).

 

“Let’s create a society where even if the governments and corporations work against us, we still have each other – let us be kind”

I agree 100% with this. Although I know it’s not good to boast about your own deeds, the video gets the message across in an effective manner. The message is meant to inspire others to think, to spend time wisely, and to take action in improving society.

—Moonlight

The Day I Learned the Art of Coffee Making

My latte with a floral pattern ^^ (made by me)

On Saturday, three of my friends and I attended a course at the Sydney Coffee School to learn the art of coffee making. The course was six hours long and was divided into two parts: 10A.M.-1P.M. Barista Skills and 2P.M.-4P.M. Latte Art.I learned SO much about coffee within those hours! The course was excellent and although I’m not a big fan of coffee (I’m a fan of tea), I think I have found a new passion for making it. The course was enough to give me the qualifications for working at a coffee shop and in the end we received two certificates, one for Barista Skills and the other for Latte Art.

A sticky note with my name on the apron that I wore for making coffee ^_^

Our instructor was really nice and down-to-earth. As soon as everyone settled down in the room we were all asked to introduce ourselves. My three friends and I were the only ones who were students in the first half of the course. As for the other individuals that attended the course…there was an IT consultant and his friend, a nutritionist, an Italian businessman that had his own company, a person that worked in the navy, and another man and woman that were much older than the rest of us. Then there was me, my Changsha friend, my friend from Shanghai, who is studying Masters in Mechanical Engineering, and my Burmese friend, who is doing her Bachelors in Science and has lived most of her life in Denmark. We were all people of different backgrounds and occupations that came to one place to learn the art of coffee making!

In the beginning of the course we were informed about the origins of coffee beans and the different types that are available. We were also told how to tell the difference between fresh coffee beans and old coffee beans and how to handle and store them.

Some of the coffee that my friend and I made

I took down a lot of notes on how to make each type, but I’m only going to list the names of each coffee that we learned how to make:

1. Espresso
2. Ristretto
3. Long Black
4. Cappuccino and Flat White
5. Piccolo Latte
6. Normal/Standard Latte
7. Layered Latte
8. Cafe Mocha
9. Macchiato
10. Hot Chocolate

In the second part of the course, we were taught how to make latte art. Latte art looks beautiful, but it’s not easy! Sometimes it takes years of experience to gain the right hand movements to make latte art. We were shown the following video of Kim Jin Kyu, who happens to be one of world’s best latte art champions, and his work is amazing!

 

I informed my parents over the phone on the weekend that I know how to make different types of coffee now. My mum replied, “Now that you know how to make coffee, you can make some for us.” Kekekeke! xD

I actually wouldn’t mind doing a part-time job at a coffee shop. It reminds me of the Korean drama, “Coffee Prince” =P

P.S. I’ll add more pics. here of the different types of coffee that I made and some of the amazing coffee made by my instructor. I have to go do volunteer work now!

My Anime Latte Art!

—Moonlight

EXO Wins ‘Most Popular Group of the Year Award’ and ‘Best Outfit Award’ at the Mengniu Annual Billboard Music Festival

EXO at the Mengniu Annual Billboard Music Festival
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

SM Entertainment‘s marketing strategy has once again proven to be a success! Just yesterday, I had written a post (The Wait for the Newcomer Award – A Test of SM Entertainment’s Marketing Strategy for EXO in China) about whether EXO-M would finally receive the award that they had been working hard for since their debut.

EXO at the Mengniu Annual Billboard Music Festival Red Carpet and Stage
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

Guess what? EXO-M won ‘Most Popular Group of the Year Award’ and EXO won ‘Best Outfit Award’ at the Mengniu Annual Billboard Music Festival today. Congratulations!

Here is EXO-M receiving the ‘Most Popular Group of the Year Award’:

 

I knew that EXO would win an award and I 100% knew that Kris would definitely cry. He is a softie from inside and I know that he has been through a lot to reach this point.

Also, I’m a person that usually doesn’t like voting, but my sentimental side got the best of me as I remembered some of the members of EXO-M describing their trainee years and Kris trying to hold back his tears in the iFeng Interview as he was describing his homesickness and how there were times when he felt like giving up on training. I know the feeling…

Votes for the ‘Newcomer Award’ – EXO-M in the lead with 47%
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

Votes for the ‘Best Outfit Award’ – EXO in the lead with 92.4%
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

So I just said, “I might as well vote, if that’s what makes them happy! It’s the most that I can do to contribute as a fan…or friend =P” (I really don’t like calling myself a fan, to be honest…I like to call myself a friend. I think it sounds nicer ^^).

Dui Zhang crying…
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

Lay, my second bias, and Kris, my ultimate bias, cried the most. Lay was the first one to tear up…

Kris and Lay
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

Fans online started writing, “Baby Don’t Cry,” after seeing these pictures =P I didn’t cry like many other fans did when they saw Kris, Lay, and Tao shed tears. I was able to control myself and was smiling instead because I knew that their tears were tears of happiness ^^ Besides, I don’t really cry that often. If I do, it’s most often not in public =P My friends have all cried when I was leaving the UAE after my graduation, but I didn’t cry in front of them…I actually cried 1 hour later when I went back to the dorm. I react pretty late I guess =P

EXO-M‘s reaction after watching the video from fans
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

K-Pop group members, in general, often make me cry when they cry… You may read a bit about it in the post, EXO’s “Into Your World” English Translation (Teaser 22 and 23 Lyrics), that I wrote about EXO‘s song, Angel, which was before EXO debuted. Hence, it’s really no surprise that some of the members of EXO cried at one of their most important events today, as winning an award at this event was what they had been anticipating since their debut.

Upon receiving the award, Kris stated, “Thank you SM… Thank you EXO-K who are here tonight… Thanks to our family members… and thank you to all the angels (fans) who have been supporting us!”

Kris called us angels? Oh my…you are an angel too…no more Angry Bird! =) EXO-M also left paper plane messages for their fans:

EXO-M’s Paper Plane Messages
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

Kris: I wish I could fly, fly to wherever our fans are!

Lay: I wish the people I love and the people who love me have their days filled with joy and laughter, and continue to love me and Exo M!

Luhan: I wish for everyone to be happy and without worries!

Xiumin: I wish for everyone to be happy everyday! (he said it in Mandarin)

Chen: I wish for world peace! (in Mandarin)

Tao: I wish that those people with dreams will not give up on their dreams; in this world, nothing is impossible for me and all of you!

Cr: EXO-M御姐辣妈团forever

Yes, please…Kris. You must fly to Australia. I wish I could fly to where my bias is too ^^ Oh God, since when did I become so cheesy? Hahahaha! =P

EXO-M Group Hug
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

Doesn’t this moment remind you of one of the moments when DBSK won an award (P.S. I like Changmin‘s hair here =P)?

….and Kris stated that he looks up to Yunho of DBSK as his role model o.O The actions here are almost the same!
(Credit: m4082012.tumblr.com)

It has been fun writing posts on Kris since his pre-debut days, but it would be really cool if I ever did get the chance to meet him and the rest of EXO, iA. I write these posts as a memory. I’m not trying to hide from reality. I know exactly what is going on. I know what’s happening the world. I keep up-to-date with the news around political and social issues in society, I have other interests as well, I have a life outside of the Internet world, but this…I don’t know. Sometimes I think I would look back and laugh at all of my posts, but there’s something that keeps pushing me to write. I don’t know what it is…

Anyhow, meeting EXO is all in God’s hands. If not in this world, then perhaps in Heaven like angels iA…kekekeke! ^^

=)
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

I’m going to wait for the HD pics. to be uploaded tomorrow, so I can add the nice ones here as a memory ^^

—Moonlight

The Wait for the Newcomer Award – A Test of SM Entertainment’s Marketing Strategy for EXO in China

Just another day of me doing marketing research…and keeping track of Kris Wu aka Dui Zhang too =P

Does anyone remember the time when people were asking the question, “Is EXO-M, a Chinese-Korean boy-group formed under a Korean entertainment company, going to break through the Chinese music market and become successful and well-known as homegrown Chinese music artists?”

This was the main concern among many fans of K-Pop and C-Pop when EXO was going to debut in April (Read More: Words of Comfort for EXO-M). Many had been underestimating SM Entertainment‘s marketing strategy.

Aside from being a fan, I like to observe SM-Entertainment‘s marketing strategies from a business perspective, especially when it comes to EXO-M promoting in China. It seems as though EXO-M has been successful by gaining support from a plethora of youth in China since their debut (Read More: EXO-M: Then and Now). The following fan account gives a clear picture of how much support EXO-M has received within five months of debuting, making them one of the biggest K-Pop rookie groups this year:

EXO-M

[TRANS] 20120915 – Fan Account – EXO-M Hongqiao Airport

I’m going to tell a little about today…I was there at the scene getting squeezed to death. The fans are all very strong, and though I was 174cm, aiya I couldn’t see very much….at Hongqiao Airport I headed to where crowds were gathering, and the fans were all very calm and organized.

I don’t know which idiot decided to yell “EXO-M is there!” but all the fans started running like crazy…I was caught up with them, I just wanted to get a glimpse of EXO. But I couldn’t get out of there – a ton of fangirls were all heading in one direction, like a flood…

At security, everyone was shouting “EXO-M, EXO-M,” “Lu Han,” “Wu Yifan [Kris],” and the noise was really loud…

Some fans had seen EXO-M leaving their hotel. By looking at the situation on Weibo we could find out what was going on….but they weren’t coming…everyone was extremely disappointed, a few younger sisters even began crying…but then we heard the shout “EXO-M!” from downstairs. When we got down, there were some fans there apologizing to EXO-M and Hongqiao Airport about the chaos, and to express their apology they began to sing “Into Your World [Angel]“…and then everyone began singing, it was really touching!

…anyway, so that was the day spent and wasted…but to make such a scene at the airport, I really am sorry toward EXO-M and Hongqiao Airport. A boy fan of EXO suggested to everyone that we should all go home and post on Weibo and other sites to apologize to EXO for the mess. Sorry, EXO-M, sorry ah~ The 10/2 China-Korea concert will come to Shanghai soon, and I kind of want to meet them at the airport again. I will keep calm…I will be composed…I will bring two pairs of shoes, tennis shoes to run in and high heels to see EXO-M with!

But I’m not too terribly sad either. I was so close to EXO-M~ I was in the same airport as them~ At least there was something experienced today.
–
account and pic cr: 大爱奇葩团 on Baidu EXO Tieba
translated by xiaoyu, take out with full credits plz~!

The crowd at the airport
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

— The picture is of the airport outside security. EXO fans are scary o__0 but fan accounts like this, and the subsequent flood of apologies to EXO-M and the airport on Weibo show that maybe not all fans are heartless scary creatures, at least in retrospect…

— This was only part of a much longer fan account that included the crowds getting worked up over some other celebrities coming and going. EXO-M weren’t the only ones that day.

(SOURCE: International EXO Facebook Fan Page)

However, for me, it was never about, “Will they become successful?” It has always been about HOW they aim to become successful through SM Entertainment‘s clear-cut marketing strategies. It is evident that a large part of the group’s success comes from fans, who are willing to gather as many votes for their favorite group on music sites, purchase their albums and merchandise, attend their concerts, or simply show their appreciation through word-of-mouth or social media sites that quickly obtain interest from potential fans or people in general (I myself, have been involved in this too =P). One can further break down the question and ask, “How do we get support and how do we make potential music enthusiasts turn into fans?” and this is where promotion plays a key role in attracting the intended target audience.

It should also be noted that the members that make up the group have been carefully selected by SM Entertainment and have been trained to further facilitate their influence in attracting people towards them (Read More: EXO-M Stunning Debut, Secrets of Korean Trainee Life). They know how to create an image that would be liked by many, so what we love about them is merely their image (or brand image, to be more precise) but not exactly the individual himself. For instance, from a fan’s point of view I can say, “I am a loyal fan of *insert bias’ name here* and EXO,” but from a marketing point of view this would be called “brand loyalty” and this is exactly what SM Entertainment or any other entertainment company in Korea wants for its groups, so that they continue generating profit.

Beautiful Angry Bird Kris…he didn’t look like an Angry Bird when he was known as Kevin, that’s for sure xD
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

Deep in my mind, I always tell myself…Kris is Kevin…a dude that was once a regular student that decided to audition, like several people around me do on a regular basis, and ended up getting chosen. A person that was just like us…not a brand…not an image. If the members of EXO are not known or groomed like they are today, then I am pretty sure that many of today’s fans would be very neutral in terms of their reaction when seeing them. Even if Kris left SM Entertainment during his trainee years, since there were many times when he felt like giving up, then he would still be a person that people would be neutral to. It’s not until you are marketed/promoted, will you become known!

Interestingly, I received a topic to work on in my last semester’s marketing class group project and it was about Samsung China and the marketing strategies that Korean companies utilize to gain a win-win situation in China. As I read through some of the articles for my research on the topic, I was stunned to see how much some of the marketing strategies presented by a few Korean companies such as Samsung, the LG Group, and SK Group, were similar to those being used by SM Entertainment!

Samsung, the LG Group, and SK Group have three common factors for being successful in China and they are: efforts to localize, untiring leadership efforts, and long-term approach to investments. Similarly, SM Entertainment has placed four Chinese members and two Korean members in EXO-M to make it seem more like a local group rather than a Korean group, hard work and perseverance is evident in the training process and the staff/managers that are involved with the group’s activities, and for those of you that may not be aware, SM Entertainment‘s plan for forming the group, EXO, was already in the works since 2006!

Kris and LuHan…blonde Asian dudes =P
(Credit: To the rightful owner)

On another note, I know LuHan and Kris are incredibly popular and have many fans in China. I had expected Kris to become extremely well-known before he even debuted (you can just read my posts on him before he debuted). Yes, I’m pretty forward-thinking. However, I think the other members of EXO-M are just as awesome too. The point here is that LuHan and Kris seem to be the visuals of the group, which comes to the question, “Is it really looks that young people pay attention to?” Just recently on MengNiu Music Chart News Cut: Male Singers with Perfect Facial Features, LuHan and Kris tied for first place with online votes. Perhaps the young teenage fans prioritize looks, but I know that mature fans look at character, personality, and talent before they declare themselves as a fan of one particular member.

Anyhow, with the awards ceremony at Mengniu’s “Yin Yue Feng Yun Ban” approaching tomorrow, the main question is…will EXO receive the Newcomer Award that everyone is anticipating? Many believe that this award is what will determine whether EXO-M truly have a strong foothold in China to continue being successful. Even so, there is no denying that EXO-M have been quite influential in tapping into the Chinese music market.

We can only wait…. Good luck EXO! ^^

My cup of tea, an article on marketing, and my iPhone playing EXO-M‘s What Is Love

—Moonlight