Yoon Do Jun, Kim So Hyun's Radio Romance sets off 5.5% ratings.

KBS2 new drama 'Radio Romance 라디오 로맨스' starring Yoon Do Jun and Kim So Hyun kicks off its first episode with 5.5% viewers ratings.

According to Nielsen Korea, a 30-day rating survey company, KBS 2TV new monthly drama 'Radio Romance' was aired on the previous day recorded an average audience rating of 5.5% nationwide. It was 6.4% in Seoul and 5.7% in the metropolitan area. The SBS drama 'Oh! The Mysterious' aired at the same time was 8.1% and the MBC drama 'White Tower' recorded  4.4% ratings. 

           


Radio Romance is a romantic comedy drama that depicts the story of a radio assistant writer, Song Geu Rim (played by Kim So Hyun) who is brilliant at planning except writing.

Ji Soo Ho (played by Yoon Do Jun) is a top star who is an excellent actor who can not do anything without a script. He ends up being a radio deejay when nothing seems to go his way.

Also, Yoon Bak, Girls' Day Yura, Ha Joon, Kwak Dong Yeon, Oh Hyun Kyung Oh and  Kim Byung Se co-starred in this new drama. 

Taeyang and Min Hyo Rin's wedding photos released.

The wedding photo of Big Bang member Taeyang (30, Dong Yeong Bae) and actress Min Hyo Rin (32, Jung Eun Ran) has been officially released.

           

Fashion magazine DAZED announced on Instagram for a special photo shoot release of Taeyang and Min Hyo Rin. It will be released on February 3rd for their wedding.

Taeyang and Min Hyo Rin were seated side by side looking towards the camera. The bride is wearing a black lacey see through dress while the couple's wedding band rings have attracted a lot of attention. 

The couple will be tying the knot on Feb 3rd in a church. After the wedding ceremony with family, friends and acquaintances, they will hold a wedding reception with their friends at Incheon Paradise City.

Taeyang and Min Hyo Rin met through the music video of his solo album "Rise"  and the song "Dawn of Time" released in June 2014. Since admitting their relationship in public in June 2015, Taeyang has been a devoted guy to it. 

Master In the House with baseball player Lee Dae Ho.

Master In the House casts continue to meet their new 'Master' at the cold mountain area. They heard his voice but they were not sure who he was...he was none other than baseball player Lee Dae Ho. Before we knew it, Lee gave them a hard time of harsh training.
                                   

Remember in 1N2D variety show where they tried scouting the best players at wherever they are. So Seung Gi decided to ring Lee Dae Ho since he was in Busan- where the two became best buddies. Lee's wife turns out to be a big fan of Seung Gi so she was delighted to meet him. That was years back and now the baseball player is married to the same girl and even have two children.

Now time has changed where the butlers are now under harsh training by the baseball player.
He got them in the gym where it was military boot training. The 4 of them went from weights, running to everything they didn't imagine. After 12 hours of training, the 4 butlers looked deeply exhausted. It is time for Lee to bring them over to his apartment. He rang his wife on the phone while everyone is just excited to have dinner- meat! They were so hungry that they just wanted to gobble up whatever that's presented on the dinner table. 

             

Upon arriving at the apartment, Lee showed them around the apartment. Se Hyung was impressed with the secret room which contains all the prized possessions- the awards, golden glove, signed balls of the years he has been playing. Even they are not huge baseball players, they were wowed with the awards, medals and plaques lined up across the entire room shelves. Lee pointed there is a CCTV in the room if anyone were to steal anything! Lee's elder daughter Hyo Rin looks exactly like her father. The son Ye Sung is still cute and following Seung Gi. Everyone was resting in the room while Ye Sung was busy playing with Seung Gi. Suddenly he started crying leaving Seung Gi shocked. Se Hyung blamed it on Seung Gi but Lee asked if Se Hyung is the main culprit! Haha!

The look on Sang Yoon, Sung Jae, Seung Gi and Se Hyung's face were priceless when the wife prepared just salad, 2 pieces of beef and some nuts at the side for the entire dinner. Their motto is to follow whatever the Master is eating. Lee is on a strict diet to lose weight. So he is determined not to eat after 6 o'clock. They ate everything quickly but still felt hungry. Lee pitied Sung Jae's big appetite so he asked his wife to give him more almonds and nuts. Seung Gi saw the left over plate of meat so he asked if they can play a game. The winner wins 3 pieces of meat and runner up gets 1 piece of meat. Lee's wife will determine the winner. Sung Jae starts serenading her with a song. Lee clapped and said he'd give him if he was his wife.
Sang Yoon decided not to back off, he reenacted the drama lines from On the Way to Airport.
It definitely send Lee's wife heart fluttering away as to when Se Hyung said how could Sang Yoon have the flirty lines in front of the husband? Uh-oh! Se Hyung and Seung Gi tried their luck by singing too but the meat goes to Sung Jae and Sang Yoon! LOL!

                                   

Lee suggested that they should go exercise more to where the 4 were like what?! "We just got back from 12 hours exercise and now we have to do it AGAIN?" This time Lee agrees to take them to a BBQ restaurant if they win the dodge ball game. Indeed the butlers won the game so they get to eat beef and salad at the best BBQ restaurant in Busan- mostly frequented by baseball players. Lee restrained himself from eating anything. Lee said there is something he wished to give to the winner who wins a game - enduring pain while pulling sideburns. Sung Jae immediately gave up after 0.5 seconds. Seung Gi maintained well while Se Hyung screamed like a girl after 0.95 seconds. Sang Yoon endured the pain too. It's Seung Gi vs. Sang Yoon. Surprisingly Sang Yoon lose 7 strands of hair and he didn't feel any pain while Seung Gi gave up. Lee gave a bottle of wine he kept hoping he will drink it when he retires. It was a precious gift and he handed it to Sang Yoon for winning the game. The other three slept in the medals room while Sang Yoon and Lee Dae Ho call it off the night at the living room.

Next morning mission is waking up little Hyo Rin- getting her washed up, dressed up and in time for the bus to take her to the kindergarten. It was a harder mission that exercising for the 4 bachelors. Seung Gi is good with kids while the three men struggled on what to do. Sung Jae brought her to brush her teeth, Sang Yoon tied her hair up and they send her off just at the nick of time. Phew! Lee brought the butlers to the Busan baseball stadium where he hit a home run.
It was a good experience and changed their concept about marriage. Se Hyung has never thought of settling down except working on his career. Even Sang Yoon agreed as after watching Lee coming back, wife and kids greeting him happily and life is just perfect. Sung Jae came up with a proverb whereby Lee is like a salmon. A salmon goes anywhere with the support of family and friends. And the salmon comes back to where it was born- just like Lee.
Seung Gi's word of the day is 'Pain' is actually a 'Dream'. He relates it to where nothing comes without pain. In Lee's baseball career- there is definitely lots of pain to endure but there is where his dream is. 

New variety show: Master in the House 집사부일체

SBS has launched its latest variety show entitled Master In the House by scouting singer/actor Lee Seung Gi as soon as he is out from army. Since he's fresh out from the army camp, he has been working out hard to keep in shape while tuning to the latest trend of music videos. It shows he's a big fan of TWICE as you can see he was seen singing Likey Likey and Cheer Up was his motivation song in the military. Of course he decided to pass off on boy bands performance but kept on to watch Wanna One because they are the biggest trend. Hah!

                                

Before the production of Master in the House, the production crew and scriptwriter has invited other members such as BTOB's Yook Sung Jae, comedian Yang Se Hyung and actor Lee Sang Yoon. Sung Jae has been Seung Gi's big fan and always wanted to meet him in real person. He's bored at home playing video games and only friend he has is the cat. As for Se Hyung, he is basically common in variety shows...but for Sang Yoon, he's newbie to variety shows. He managed to appear in Running Man once and that was it. Since he's a graduate from Seoul National University with major in Physics- he seems to analyse everything while talking about Einstein in a variety show! And the only variety show he seems to watch is The Big Bang Theory- an American comedy with all science geeks. That's so typical of him!

The crew went to pick up Seung Gi in a caravan as he was dressed neatly and all packed with his gear and emergency tools. He doesn't trust the staff as yet since he was in the variety for the last 10 years. Sung Jae was happy upon meeting Seung Gi and even handed him a tumbler of hot coffee to win some points. Hah! The caravan was filled with 100 photos of the 'Master' whom people wish to meet or stay with. Seung Gi was happy to know that TWICE poster is pinned up. Se Hyung boarded the caravan while they teased him about his fashion statement.
The final one to be picked up is Sang Yoon where the three decided to play a prank on him. They knew he was rather blank and serious sp they wonder what will he do in the Master's house. The prank made him flustered and seriously thought they were camping at his house!

The staff made Seung Gi happy when they called TWICE and the girls answered the video call. Se Hyung holding the phone was shocked and passed it towards Sang Yoon who just went blank too. Seung Gi stammered while talking to the girls while Sung Jae just laughed it out. 
Next was a call from veteran actor Jo Hyun Jae giving them hints on the 'Master' they are going to visit. Hint 1- he is a middle aged man who doesn't like people talking too much and has a routine to what he does. The daily chart shows the Master wakes up at 4.00 am and practises his fingers for few hours that made them wonder if he's a singer or musician...etc. Then Master goes to bed by 8.00 pm! That's even worst that what a soldier does in a camp. Se Hyung drove the caravan with the rest under navigation to the Master's house at Samcheong-dong. As they were nearer to the destination, Seung Gi kept talking about his army life making Se Hyung annoyed to tell him to stop. They reached the hilly base and had to carry their bags up to the white house gate. No one's at home and they wandered around the house analysing the Master's character and habits. 

             

Sang Yoon immediately saw the initials scribbled on the wall and everyone was shocked to know who the Master was. They never expected to arrive at his house for overnight stay. Few minutes later, they greeted their Master who is the legendary singer Jeon In Kwon who is the lead singer in the folk group Deulgukhwa. It was an awkward meeting after 90-degree bow and they didn't know what to do. The house was nearly 60+ years and that's where Jeon practised his music with his band members. Se Hyung decided to cook for the Master so the rest helped out. Jeon got the members to practise sketching portraits on him. Turns out Sang Yoon is gifted and the best went to Seung Gi. Not bad! Jeon is impressed with Sung Jae's voice. They played a game where the loser needs to sleep in the same room with Jeon.
Seung Gi was the 'lucky' one so the rest slept in the band room. The 3 were busy chatting away while sending text messages to Seung Gi who kept so quiet while Jeon is fast asleep.

                                 

Without hesitation, Seung Gi crept quietly to the band room to meet up with the rest. Everyone was hungry after the small dinner. Seung Gi's emergency bag came useful as he brought instant noodles, rice cakes and portable stove. It has proven to be a saviour to all. They enjoyed the night snacks and went to bed shortly. Not long Seung Gi shuffled on the floor with Jeon's loud snoring. Haha! I guess he didn't miss out on snoring after all he slept together with Soo Geun and Ho Dong in 1N2D where they snored heavily too! Next day, they went vocal practising. Before that, it was a short wake up wash which tested the members to wash their face and brush their teeth! They were rather astonished to know Jeon asked them to take a spoon each to just gulp in 'honey powder'! Wow! Sang Yoon was flabbergasted as they didn't know if that was proper breakfast! LOL! 

Deulgukhwa band members arrived shortly to practise with Jeon. Seung Gi requested for the song 'After Love' and Sang Yoon requested 'Please' with the band playing well while Jeon singing away. Sung Jae teared up upon hearing the song with strong emotions. Even Sang Yoon started shedding tears upon hearing the song sung by Jeon. The members enjoyed their short stay with Jeon and hoped to see him again. Next- all the butlers are heading to meet their new master who is baseball played Lee Dae Ho! 

My Golden Life renewed its highest rating 44.2%

KBS weekend drama 'My Golden Life' has once again topped viewers ratings with 44%.

According to Nielsen Korea on the 29th January, KBS 2TV weekend drama 'My Golden Life' (writer Soo Hyung Kyung, director Kim Hyung Suk) showed ratings of Seoul and the metropolitan area were 44.0% and 44.6%, respectively. The highest audience rating recorded of this drama was 43.2%. As a result, this drama is close to the the audience rating (47.6%) of 'My Daughter, Seo Young' (2012 ~ 2013).

                 

As the drama ratings continue to peak, conflicts between characters are rising with the current trend. This  drama was originally planned as a 50  episode and has been extended twice in recent years. 'My Golden Life' depicts the story of a woman who is struggling to escape from the edge of the poverty with the opportunity to raise her status. Park Si-hoo, Shin Hye-sun, Lee Tae-hwan, Seo Eun-su, Chun Ho-jin, Kim Hye-Ok, and Jeon No Min are in the main cast.

Meanwhile, the top ranking of the drama viewers in the past were ranked as per below:

1. First Love (1996)- 65.8%
2. What is Love? (1991)- 64.9%
3. Hourglass (1995)-  64.5%
4. Heo Jun (1999)- 63.7%
5. Our Sunny Days of Youth (1995)- 62.7%
6. You and I (1997)- 62.4%
7. Son and Daughter (1992)- 61.1%
8. King Taejo (2000)- 60.2%
9. Eyes of Dawn (1992)- 58.4%
10. Jewel in the Palace (2003)- 57.8%

H.O.T to return after 17 years in hiatus.

Tony Ahn (Ahn Seung Ho, 41) of H.O.T idol group has mentioned on 29th January that the first generation group will make their come back. They are sincerely grateful to the fans who has patiently waited for their return. He also apologized that it took so long for the group to come back. But they thanked everyone for their support as they needed a lot of courage for the come back. The guys will do their best to perform for their fans. 

Kang Ta (Ahn Chil Hyun, 39) also left a brief return to the Instagram. He said, "I am so sorry and  thank you very much." 

H.O.T will be on the stage of returning to perfection in the public hall of Ilsan MBC Dream Center on the 15th February through a feature stage of MBC TV entertainment program 'Infinite Challenge' 'Saturday Night Singer 3'.

Moon Hee-jun, Jang Woo-hyuk, Tony Ahn, Kang Ta and Lee Jae-won- the 5 members have not been on stage for 17 years since the team's break up in 2001. Their performance videos and preparations can be viewed at 'Infinite Challenge' on the 17th and 24th of next month. However, in relation to the PyeongChang Olympics broadcasting program, this special program will be organised in a different time zone than the current 'Infinite Challenge' broadcasting time.

The production team said, H.O.T is a first-generation representative idol and we are practising choreography now to show a good example for viewers & their memories. The producers of 'Infinite Challenge' will do their best to H.O.T fans who have been waiting for 17 years.

H.O.T debuted in 1996 with first album entitled 'We Hate All Kinds of Violence'. The group succeeded with the hit single 'Candy' and debut song 'Dawn of the Warrior'. Since then, the group released 5 regular albums by 2001, reigned as the top group throughout their lives and rewrote the history of Korean idol singers. In 1999, H.O.T was the first Korean group to perform at the Seoul Jamsil Olympic Stadium. Their hits include 'Wolf and Sheep', 'We Are the Future', 'Happiness' and 'Ten'! 'Light' and 'Aya'.

 Group leader Moon Hee-jun was born in 1978- was the first to get married among all members. Jang Woo Hyuk and Tony Ahn are the same age as Hee Jun. Kang Ta and Lee Jae Won were born in 1979 and 1980 respectively.

Song Seung Hun and Liu Yi Fei broke up after 2 years.

When you think two different countries celebrities are not able to communicate, but it's the least you'd expect when actor Song Seung Hun announced his relationship with Taiwan actress Liu Yi Fei 2 years ago. And just then the couple has announced to remain just as friends.

According to his agency, Song is very busy with schedules and work so he has little time to spend with Liu who is also a busy actress. So both decided to go on separate ways. They are still good friends and to maintain the good relationship between Korea and China.

In 2015, both met at the set of The Third Way of Love and developed a love relationship.

She made her debut in TV series entitled The Story of a Noble Family in 2003 followed by Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils and Chinese Paladin. She appeared in films such as The Forbidden Kingdom (with Jackie Chan and Jet Li), A Chinese Fairy Tale and was recognised in the trilogy films of The Four and The Assassins. Recently she has been cast for the remake of the Disney cartoon Mulan. 

Meanwhile Song has just finished filming the OCN drama 'Black' and is about to unveil his latest movie 'The Bombing'. 

Lee Dong Wook as 2018 Pyeongchang Paralympics Global PR.

Actor Lee Dong Wook will be the public relations for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in the boom and Gangwon area.
                  
               

According to the agency 'King Kong Entertainment' on the 28th January, Lee Dong Wook will hold a fan meeting at the Gangneung Art Center 's Simeon Hall on March 13th during the paralympic period and to also meet with some 1,000 international fans.

In particular, this fan meeting will be free. It will be composed of events to be enjoyed by multinational fans. In addition, the actor had purchased 1000 tickets for the Ice Hockey Paralympic Games and presented them to all the fans who attended the fan meeting.

Lee Dong Wook has proved his global popularity last year by signing 'For My Dear' Asia tour and photo book. The event will contribute to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, and the tourism promotion ambassadors of Gangwon Province, as well as domestic and overseas public relations."

'Pyeongchang 2018 Lee Dong Wook' fan meeting will be held together with Korea Tourism Organization and Gangwon Province.

Film '1987' surpassed 7 million viewers in 33 days.

Year 1987 in the month of June, - the film entitled '1987' (directed by Jang Jun Hwan) depicting the real life story of uprising broke the record of audience exceeding 7 million within 33 days.

                 

According to CJ Entertainment-  movie distributor on the 28th January- '1987' surpassed 7 million viewers at 2:35 pm on the basis of the Integrated Screening Commission of the Korea Film Council. '1987' is a work that depicts the uprising in June 1987. When Park Jong Cheol, a college student was tortured during an investigation at Namyong-dong where the government attempted to conceal the incident and described the story as it turned out to be true. 

Director Jang who has directed Save the Green Planet (2003), Hwayi: The Monster Boy (2013) have once again scouted A-list actors in this movie 1987. Actors Kim Yoon Suk, Ha Jung Woo, Yu Hae Jin, Kim Tae Ri, Park Hwi Soon, Lee Hee Jun and special appearance by Yeo Jin Goo, Sol Gyung Gyu, Oh Dal Su, Kang Dong Wan and Moon Soo Ri. 

The film was released locally on 27th December 2017 and has been steadily driving word-of-mouth and leading the show. Together with the movie 'Along with the Gods' and 'Steel Rain', last year, it became the big three K-movies. 

2PM's Wooyoung reveals his secret about artist disease.

2PM's Wooyoung has revealed a shocking truth about his illness- it's called the artist disease.
It nearly took 5 years for him to overcome it since he was part of the idol group.
He made the revelation in the recent episode of Radio Star.

               

Other guests in Radio Star include former 2AM's Jo Kwon, GOT7's Jackson Wang and INFINITE's Sung Gyu. 

Wooyoung mentioned that he was suffering the illness the last time. MC Kim Gook Jin asked if it was serious? More specific details of symptoms were given and it has to be a self treatment for the artist himself. He noted that Wooyoung has not been appearing in shows and seems to be bottled up.

At the requests of the emcees, Wooyoung displayed his dances for comparison- before and after the illness. 

Radio Star is hosted by Kim Gu Ra, Yoon Jong Shin, Kim Gook Jin and and actor Cha Tae Hyun. 

Park Jin Hee is pregnant with 2nd child.

Actress Park Jin Hee (40) is pregnant with her second child after giving birth to her first one three years ago.

              

Park's agency has confirmed on 24th January, that the actress is pregnant for the second time.

The actress married Judge Park Sang Jun in 2014 who is actually 5 years younger than her.
In November that same year, Park Jin Hee gave birth to a daughter. She debuted in 1996 in the TV drama 'Start'. Then she shot to stardom by starring in the movie "Whispering Corridors" and mobile communication CF. Since then the actress starred in dramas such as War of Money, Giant, Hur Jun The Original Story, Oh! My Geum Bi and movies such as Love in Magic, Underground Rendezvous, The Concubine and Mom. 

Recently she was in SBS variety show- Same Bed, Different Dreams 2: You Are My Destiny to talk about her happy marriage life. 

Comedian Kim Jun Ho files for divorce.

Comedian and gagman Kim Jun Ho has ended his marriage. 

According to his agency JDB Entertainment, Kim Jun Ho has decided to file for divorce recently, and has completed the consultation divorce procedure after the amicable settlement. 

His agency said, "The comedian has spent a lot of time away from home, so he became naturally desperate. Also there was a difference in personalities, so he has made this decision for the future of each other. Both can't show their happiness while living together however Jun Ho will continue to do his best in the future.

The couple have decided to go on separate ways but they are supporting each other. The agency has asked the public to refrain from malicious comments and speculative reports.

Kim Jun Ho has made his debut as a comedian in SBS Gag Concert in 1996.He has been active in KBS 2TV comedy program 'Gag Concert' and received KBS Entertainment  Awards Grand Prize (Dae Sang) in 2013. He is currently a permanent member in 'One Night Two Days' program. 

Ha Ji Won's brother Jeon Tae Soo passed away.

Haewadal Entertainment has confirmed actor Jeon Tae Soo (33) has passed away.
The agency has advised that Jeon suffered a different fate and been struggling with depression. Lately he has been discussing the return to the entertainment industry. And out of sudden, he passed away causing grief and shock to his family members and friends.

                                               

Funeral services will be held quietly with family, friends and acquaintances. Jeon Tae Soo, who had a passion for acting was a pure artist who was well-versed in various fields such as art. The agency has asked all to refrain from speculative articles and bad comments on the late actor.

Jeon Tae Soo is the brother of actress Ha Ji won. Ha Ji Won is the second eldest in the family with Jeon being the youngest. He made his debut in the entertainment industry in 2007 with Good Day to Love,  appearing in Two Some's Take Care music video. He played the villain in the SBS drama Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010),  'All My Love' (2010) 'It's OK, Daddy's Daughter' (2010), movies The Madonna and KJ & Fate in 2009. In 2013, he made his comeback in the periodic drama Cruel Palace- War of Flowers but somehow he didn't make it big.

As a result of her brother's sudden passing, Ha Ji Won cancelled all her schedules for her movie Manhunt to accompany her family during this sad time.

We send our condolences to Ha Ji Won's family and Rest in Peace to Jeon Tae Soo.

Himeji and Kobe day trip- 29 Dec 2017

After purchasing the 1-day Kansai Day pass, it enabled us to visit Himeji and Kobe via the JR Kobe-Sannomiya Line. We didn't require any reservation on the JR Line as it wasn't a bullet train. So it's first come basis where everyone rushed to find a seat in the train. Took nearly 30 minutes to arrive at Himeji. Wow! It's been several years since I last visited Himeji before the major renovation began not long ago.



Upon arriving at Himeji, we felt weird as it wasn't packed with tourists only to realize 29th and 30th Dec- the castle is closed and we could only walk around the park. What a bummer!
Damn! After all the trouble and wasting our time arriving at Himeji only to realize it's shut. Fortunately we can still snap some photos of the main castle and grounds. It's still beautiful but cold. Locals with tourists are still taking photographs of the main castle.
                           
We took an hour or less strolling the castle grounds before we headed back to Himeji station. My parents bought some matcha ice cream and souvenirs along the way. We are on our way to Kobe where we stopped at Kobe Harbourtown Plaza. We then took the subway to Minamoto station where there's the Chinatown serving lots of Chinese delicacies and dishes.

                          

Kobe Motomachi is a long walking street covered- so need to worry for rain or shine. But the problem is finding the washroom and dustbins are a major problem! We cannot find rubbish bins everywhere we go. Seems that the locals take their rubbish home with them and nobody litters in the public. Wow!

Visit to Kanazawa town, Japan.

On 4th January 2018, we decided to visit Kanazawa township since we were there earlier at the bus station to board the bus to Shirakawago. This town is situated far up along the Takayama line where we took the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Osaka to Kanazawa. The journey took almost 3 hours since it's not a super fast bullet train where it stops at major train stations to pick up passengers along the way.

Kanazawa gets a lot of snow during the Winter season. The day when we arrived on 3rd and 4th January, we received lots of snow too in the city. Luckily we had two umbrellas with us as heavy snow started falling later in the afternoon. I wanted to visit the Ōmichō-ichiba (近江町市場) market but it was closed on a Thursday so the visitor guides advised us to visit the Kanazawa Castle Park and Higashi Chaya-gai (ひがし茶屋町) where its most famous geisha district. We bought the one day hop on-off bus at 500Yen each and waited for the bus. It was packed with tourists as everyone can't wait to shelter from the snow and cold. 





We arrived at the Higashi Chaya-gai where we followed majority of people heading into the little alleys and beautiful quarters. Kanazawa is famed for its gold leaf production and lacquer ware.  We dropped by at a shop that literally sells most things plated with gold - mmm, very expensive and we just managed to buy a gold leaf ice-cream costs 832Yen! I was down with flu and cough so I couldn't enjoy much of cold icy stuffs. Bleh! I saw a little cafe that served green tea parfait, matcha latte and drinks. We waited around 10 minutes to get into the two storey tiny cafe that overseas the little area. Nice! 

                           

Next stop we headed to Kanazawa Castle Park which is so beautifully covered with snow.
The Ishikawa Gate (石川門) stood majestically while tourists were busy snapping photos with falling snow. We couldn't walk much in the castle park as it was too cold, our shoes were getting wet and snow was getting heavier. It's just too troublesome with too much snow at times.
We quickly took the bus back to JR Kanazawa station where there was heater and much to our enjoyment of food at the restaurants. He he!

Winter wonderland in Shirakawago, Japan.

On 3rd January 2018, I managed to make my way to Shirakawago (UNESCO Heritage) area in Japan. It was around 3 degrees in the early morning in Osaka when we boarded the Thunderbird train from Osaka to Kanazawa. Flurry bits of snow was already flying everywhere when we reached Kanazawa station. It took us nearly 3 hours on the train from Osaka. Quickly I headed to the bus depot and got our reservation bus tickets to Shirakawago. It was fully booked and reserved. Thank goodness we had assistance from my AirB&B host who is a lovely helpful Japanese guy who helped me to reserve the bus seats. We took the 11.30 am bus and within an hour and half, we reached the Shirakawa village- all looking white and frozen. Thick snow was everywhere and there were many tourists as well. Tour busses were lined up all along the bus station and people were also queuing up to board the bus to the observatory deck. 

My parents managed to hold onto the line while my brother and I quickly snapped some photos while checking out the main village area. Icy roads and slippery as well since we didn't wear special hiking boots or so. It was a good thing my Merrell shoes got me everywhere but my toes were quite frozen even I had woolen socks.  




The bus took us up and down the observatory place was 200 Yen per person per way. It saves you from hiking on the slippery snowy slopes. The snow was falling heavily and we couldn't see a thing. We looked around and had no place to hide except the little shop situated near the observatory deck. In fact we had our quick lunch- the bento set inside the bus because there was nowhere we could hang out for food. The Shirakawago village is actually real homes for the locals and some are not open for public. The WADE house is open with an entrance fee.

My parents took the earlier bus down to the main village while my brother and I hung around at the deck. I realized the bus took another 20 minutes to come up and the snow have stopped falling means I can snap better clearer photos from the deck. The rest of the tourists also followed my footsteps in running towards the deck area and quickly snapping the photos before the snow fell again. 



We walked around the village hoping to find small cafe and restaurants but there were mostly stalls selling buns, souvenirs and etc... We wandered around and snapped more photographs before going back to the bus station which was choc-a-block of tourists.

We couldn't even find a place to sit. So my brother and I walked around and found a nice cafe with some coffee and cake. Wow! That was heaven as it was perfectly heated and it's a solace for us than the cramp tiny bus station. Our bus only leaves at 5.40 pm means it's going to be dark very soon when it's winter time. 

It was a tiring day for us as we travel led mostly on the road and on train. By the time we reached Osaka station at 11-ish pm, it was nearly the last subway train from Umeda heading back to our place Hanazonocho. I was down with slight flu, cough and runny nose but nothing prevented me from enjoying the beautiful winter sceneries at Shirakawago.