My Lists: 10 favorite k-pop dances I wish I could do

I love dancing and it's one of the major reasons why I love k-pop. Like, I do admit to having danced miss A's "Goodbye Baby" or A Pink's "No No No" in front of the mirror in the safety of my own bedroom once or twice before. However, there are a handful of k-pop dances that I still want to learn but whenever I go and watch the videos, I'm immediately muttering to myself, "nope, not gonna happen." I've seen the dance practice versions, the tutorial videos, and possibly all the covers, but there's a difference between knowing how the dance goes in your head and actually being able to execute them properly. Sure, I can do Brown Eyed Girls' "Abracadabra" but there are those dances that just seem impossible to learn. And today, I'm listing down my 10 favorites.

10. Infinite's "BTD (Before The Dawn)"

9. EXO's "History"

8. miss A's "Breathe"

7. Rain's "Hip Song"

6. Infinite's "Be Mine"

5. 2PM "I'll Be Back"

4. SHINee's "Lucifer"

3. B2ST's "Fiction"

2. EXO's "Growl"

1. SHINee's "Everybody"

These are just some of the most epic dance videos in k-pop and there are so much more out there. What're your favorites though?

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Currently Watching: Prime Minister and I, You From Another Star, Let's Eat

Now, more than ever, I'm feeling the addiction settle in for a long ride. A very long ride. As soon as one drama ends, two more premiere and I find myself watching more dramas than I was a month ago. While, yes, I dropped Pretty Man way before it reached the halfway point, I still find myself drowning in all these shows. So much so that I'm not quite sure if today's dramas are legitimately that awesome or I'm just that thoroughly addicted to them. So before the premiere of 2 more dramas that I've been waiting for come to pass (Emergency Couple - which debuts tonight! - and Three Days), let me recount the dramas that I'm still watching.

1. Prime Minister and I - I am so freaking in love with this drama and the central pairing. This is one of those shows that sort of caught me by surprise. To be honest, I was never a fan of Yoon-ah's acting. Also, I had no idea who Lee Beom-soo was. Needless to say, I am now more forgiving of Yoon-ah and I already have History of a Salaryman on my to-watch list. I've fallen in love with Kwon Yul and, therefore, Lee Beom-soo as well and I just need more of him. Imagine that. I get into this drama looking forward to Yoon Shi-yoon and Yoon Shi-yoon alone but it looks like I'll be parting with it (only 2 more weeks left omg!) with fondness for both its leads and the awesomeness of their fictional family.

2. You From Another Star - This is yet another drama that has been causing havoc on my nerves on a bi-weekly basis. I was so looking forward to the cute fish-out-of-water plus noona romance the plot promised to deliver, but I got all that and loads more. Not only is it cute and funny at times, but the drama has a tendency to consistently deliver some good terrors and a whole lot of feels every episode. Whether it's shrinking back every time Jae-kyung gets that horrifying look in his eyes, or whether it's wanting to reach into the screen to give Do Manager or Cheon Song-yi a well-deserved hug, it always triggers more emotions than I can bear. Which is a good thing. Also, can I just say, I've always loved Jeon Ji-hyun, but this drama just made me love her even more.

3. Let's Eat - Although I'm not all caught up with this drama, I still fully intend to continue watching it once I get back on track with my watching schedule (my phone got stolen and I have yet to get a replacement - which sucks because I used to keep up with my dramas via mobile videos, so it's not quite the same now that I need my laptop to watch anything). Doo-joon is the biggest, and happiest, surprise from this drama. I usually don't have high expectations of idol actors, so color me shocked by his onscreen charisma and actual acting chops. Also, at this point in the drama, I'm not quite sure if I want Lawyer Kim or Dae-young to end up with Soo-kyung. All I know is that Lawyer Kim is adorable and Dae-young is, indeed, jjang jjang man!

4. I Need Romance 3 - Sung Joon. Do I even need to elaborate? And, honestly, I've only watched the first episode, but that alone made me want to marathon the entire drama only to realize that that's an impossible feat since it's currently airing. But really, I tried loading the second episode into my classic iPod, you know what I mean, right? Those non-touchscreen gadgets with a click wheel thingy?? But trying to read the subtitles off of that thing made me see double, so I'mma have to wait till this weekend to marathon episodes 2-4 on my laptop. I. Can't. Wait.

5. 1 Night 2 Days - With the third season came four refreshing new members and a PD who brought back the fun of the first season. And by fun, I mean the horrible sadistic streak of first season's Na PD. Which isn't surprising because Yoo PD was a rookie producer during the show's earlier season and he's now back to put our cast members through hell and then withhold food from them afterwards. As for the new cast members: Defconn is such an eager beaver and it's hilarious, Jun-ho just slays me all the time, Joo-hyuk ahjussi is the most handsome pabo ever, and maknae Joon-young is just delightful in every way. It's also awesome that our remaining veteran cast members have such a nice rapport with the new guys and it's amazing watching Cha Tae-hyun take the rein to lead our new gang this season when he's always been the laziest and unluckiest member before.

6. Winner TV - These boys own me. They haven't even officially debuted yet (damnit YG, even JYP's debuted GOT7 already) but I'm already craving for more. It's a good thing Winner TV is keeping me (somewhat) satisfied. From what little we’ve heard on the recent episode, I’m already liking the sound they’re pursuing. Stand-outs are Taehyun’s compositions and that one track co-penned by GD and Minho. To think that these are already good enough songs as they are but YG is pushing them even harder when it comes to their songwriting - well, that just raises my expectations even more. Yang Hyun-suk may be a hard sell and has even higher expectations of the boys than we do (which is no surprise, duh) but looking at the bigger picture, that’s a good thing. Winner fighting!

7. We Got Married - Taemin and Naeun ended on such a sweet note and my heart was crushed with their departure... But with that came the awesome awkwardness of 2PM's Wooyoung and his poor wife, actress Park Se-young. The thing about Wooyoung is that he always means well, but he has some sort of foot-in-mouth disease that keeps knocking him down a peg. Which, to be honest, is hilarious. I'm looking forward to all this awkward business to be done and over with and for all the cute to arrive. Which, I know, are not mutually exclusive. Awkward can be cute. It's just that... singing a song you wrote about your ex-girlfriend to your current girl is really not the smartest move. Ha.

Emergency Couple premieres tonight, best believe I'll be downloading that drama as soon as subtitles are available. Also, my friend was in Seoul last month and she spotted Choi Jin-hyuk and Song Ji-hyo in Myeongdong shooting for the show. Back when I visited Korea, I spent almost every day in Myeongdong and I did not see a single celebrity. Life is, indeed, unfair.

Oh, also, Park Yoochun's new drama Three Days is set to premiere in late February. And if the photos from his training are anything to go by, it's going to be awesome. I luff him.

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Actor Typecasting: Boxing My Favorite Actors Into Convenient Categories

So many dramas, so little time. Along with all these dramas come my never-ending list of actor crushes. I would love to list them all down but that would probably take me about a week or so to write up. My love for all these actors knows no categorical limitations. I don't care if the actor is young or old, tall or short, with a background in musicals or the catwalk - all I need is sizzling onscreen charisma and I'm yours.

So here I attempt to group my favorite Korean actors into convenient categories. Let the sorting begin...

1. The Idol Actor - A lot of people cringe at the thought of all these idol stars making their way into Korean dramas and movies, but not all idol actors are bad news. There are several handful of idols who have given acting a shot with successful results. World Star Rain, himself, is an idol who has made quite a name for himself as an actor, not just in Chungmuro but in Hollywood as well. Following in his footsteps are some of today's hottest young stars, and my favorites have to be JYJ's Park Yoochun (Rooftop Prince, I Miss You), Big Bang's T.O.P (71: Into the Fire, Commitment), Beast's Lee Gi-kwang (My Friend Is Still Alive, Me Too Flower), and Seo In-guk (Reply 1997, The Master's Sun).

2. The Model Actor - Having models in our dramas is not a new thing. A lot of actors started out gracing catwalks and fashion spreads before hitting the screens. Stars like Cha Seung-won, Jo In-sung, Gong Yoo, and So Ji-sub first found success as models before being cast in dramas and movies. The trend of turning models into actors is far from over and the past few years has churned out quite a number of successful crossovers. And there's no point in guessing who my favorites are. It's quite easy. They're all of your favorites too, you see: Kim Woo-bin (School 2013, The Heirs), Lee Jong-suk (School 2013, I Hear Your Voice), Lee Soo-hyuk (White Christmas, What's Up), Hong Jong-hyun (Dating Agency: Cyrano, White Christmas), Sung Joon (Shut Up Flower Boy Band, I Need Romance 3), and Ahn Jae-hyun (You From Another Star).

3. The Ahjussi Actor - It doesn't matter how old they get, a hot man is a hot man is a hot man. It doesn't help either that most of these men have kept fit, if not fitter now than they were 10 years ago, and have quite the chocolate abs to prove it. And the wrinkles, I actually find sexy. Don't you think? I mean, take a look as some of my favorite ahjussis: Cha Seung-won (Greatest Love), Kim Seung-woo (Miss Ripley), Lee Beom-soo (Prime Minister and I), and Jung Woo-sung (Cold Eyes). There are several actors whom I love that I'm not quite sure falls under the ahjussi category quite yet (specially since I'm not a hormonal teenager but a rational adult, psych!) but would not be considered an oppa to a majority of k-pop fans. Actors like So Ji-sub (Always, The Master's Sun), Uhm Tae-woong (Architecture 101, Equator Man), or Choi Won-young (The Heirs) are not quite old enough for me to call ahjussi, but are not quite oppas either. But they're all gorgeous, nonetheless.

4. The Musical Actor - Loving music and loving dramas is one thing, but I'm also a huge fan of theater and Broadway musicals, and seeing all these actors in productions of Grease or Spring Awakening is just too much for my little fangirl heart. And I don't mean actors who eventually found their way into theater. I'm talking about actors who started out in theater but now have veritable drama and film careers, like Joo Won (Gaksital, Good Doctor), Jo Jung-suk (The King 2 Hearts, You're The Best Lee Soon-shin), Kang Ha-neul (Monstar, The Heirs), Lee Sun-kyun (Coffee Prince, Miss Korea), and Oh Man-seok (What's Up, The Vineyard Man).

5. The Jailbait Actor - Unfortunately, there are a handful of child actors who I love that are way too young for me to even be looking at. Even more unfortunate, for me, is that some of them really don't look their age. Take Yeo Jin-goo (I Miss You, Potato Star 2013QR3) for example. The kid is 16 years old but looks and sounds like a man in his 20's. There's no doubt that kid is going places. At 16, he's already romancing 23-year-old Ha Yeon-soo in their sitcom where he plays a 24-year-old web developer. Although, technically not jailbait anymore, these kids are still off limits: Yoo Seung-ho (Arang and the Magistrate, I Miss You), Lee Hyun-woo (To The Beautiful You), and that other Lee Min-ho (Rooftop Prince, Prime Minister and I).

Sharing a little more of Yeo Jin-goo just so y'all better understand my frustration over this kid. 

He's only 16 years old. I can't even.

I feel like I'm missing out on a bunch of other actors, but only because I couldn't find a category to fit them into. Actors like Park Ki-woong or No Min-woo or Kim Soo-hyun are not on this list. Maybe a new category should be made just for the likes of them? The Pretty Actor? But aren't they all?

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My Lists: 15 favorite k-pop songs from the second half of 2013

Looks like the second half of 2013 was filled with a whole lot of black, white, red, and gray.

And just like that, we're in 2014. My obsession has yet to wane and I don't see it going anywhere in the next few months, so I forge ahead.

In many ways, 2013 has been a very memorable year in k-pop. There were several songs released this year that are still on my "Favorites" playlist and are still on constant rotation. As I did 6 months ago for the first half of 2013, I've listed down my favorite songs from the second half of the year that was.

Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are my top 15 favorite songs released after July 2013.

miss A - "Hush"

Kim Hyun-joong - "Unbreakable"

B.A.P - "Badman"

B2ST - "Will You Be Alright?"

f(x) - "Rum Pum Pum Pum"

G-Dragon - "Who You?"

Seungri - "Let's Talk About Love"

Jung Joon-young -"10 Minutes Before Breaking Up"

IU - "The Red Shoes"

T.O.P - "Doom Dada"

SHINee - "One Minute Back"

2NE1 - "Missing You"

Exo - "Growl"

SHINee - "Symptoms"

G-Dragon - "Crooked"

So here's looking forward to yet another year of awesome music. Ciao!

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