Jo Hyun Jae

prissymom is a lucky lady — here’s JHJ lighting her birthday cake!  And below is an account of her birthday in her own words.

August 20 was my birthday, and as a gift to me my husband took a leave from work to spend the whole day with me.  We left the house early (that’s why I didn’t get the chance to check out wuliJHJ right away), and spent the whole day doing things we love to do — we took a 2-hour drive to our old university which is nestled at the foot of Mt. Makiling; went trekking around the base of Mt. Makiling (couldn’t go up the mountain anymore because our legs can no longer handle the climb, hehehe!); took pictures (my husband is an amateur photographer); spent time in a hot spring and spa where we also had a leisurely lunch (this university town is surrounded by many hot springs; even water that comes out of the faucet/shower is hot, hot, hot, so hot you can even boil an egg); met up with our daughter late in the afternoon (our daughter is currently a 3rd year high school student in the same university where my husband and I spent our college years); took another 2-hour drive to Tagaytay Ridge (this is just 10 minutes away from our home and a favorite destination of Manila residents due to the clean, cool air and fantastic view of Taal Volcano (an active volcano that is surrounded by a lake); attended mass (it is customary for us Filipino Roman Catholics to hear mass on our birthday to thank the good Lord for all the blessings He gave us the previous year and to ask for guidance and more blessings for the coming year) at the Pink Sisters Convent (so-called because the novices in this convent wear a pink habit); then had an early dinner in our favorite Italian restaurant aptly named Buon Giorno (Italian for “good day”) located along the ridge.

We got home around 9 p.m. and while preparing for bed I realized that I have not checked wuliJHJ yet, but as I was so tired already I decided to do it the next day.  I was quite happy at the way the day turned out; my birthday celebration may be simple (by other people’s standards) but I preferred it that way.  On top of that I received a lot of calls and text messages throughout the day from friends and relatives (from as far as Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Singapore) greeting me on my day and that made me so happy.  I thought my special day was already over, so I went to bed with a happy heart but oddly enough, when I was already lying down I found that I could not sleep.  So I got up again, switched on my laptop, and received my last gift for the day – the video and photos of Hyun Jae’s “Defense Daily” interview posted in wuliJHJ!!!

Right there and then, I wanted to send a lengthy email to wuliJHJ, but I was just so tired that all I managed was a short comment, but I promised myself that I will write a short piece about it as soon as I can.  And here it is…..

On our Hyun Jae’s general appearance – he looks so lean but not in a sickly kind of way; in fact he looks so fit and so healthy!  He looks a bit tanned also.  I am sure he gets exposed to the sun a lot while carrying out his normal duties as a dog soldier, but his skin still looks so fine and clean despite that.  And my gosh! can anyone else look as gorgeous and sexy as our Hyun Jae in his army fatigues?  In the still photos where he is training his dog, he looks more like a model than an ordinary dog soldier going about his duties. Even in a still photo, his gracefulness cannot be masked!! 

In that segment in the video where he is shown training his dog, his body movements are so graceful, yet very manly and confident.  And he is so attuned to his dog’s movements, or should I say the dog is so attuned to our HJ – it was such a joy watching HJ and his dog moving in perfect unison.  I swear, he is the sexiest dog trainer in the whole wide world.  And in that segment where he is brushing his dog’s coat, my gosh! for the first time in my life I am jealous of a dog!!!!  I wanted to be that dog so badly!!!

After savoring the video and the still photos for hours on end (I will go back to looking at his photos as soon as I finish this piece), I decided to concentrate on the answers he gave to the questions thrown at him.  He is as humble as ever, never forgetting to thank us, his fans, for our continued support, but the answer I liked the most is the one he gave to the question on why he didn’t enlist as an entertainment soldier.  He said that he and his parents felt that being on active duty is a better option than becoming an entertainment soldier.  It is heartwarming to learn that he still listens to his parents’ advise.  To most westerners, it would seem weird that a man his age would still take into consideration his parents’ advice in his decision-making process, but for us Asians, this is a very natural thing to do.  And I agree with their decision for him to become an ordinary soldier.  If he enlisted as an entertainment soldier, he will be exposed to basically the same things and same people that he encountered as an actor; but as an ordinary soldier he can learn new things, explore a different world, meet new friends and gain new experience that may help him to become a better person and actor. 

And he seems to have made the right decision, if his two promotions (so far) are any indication.  And to think that before his military service there were some malicious speculations about his military enlistment (www.dramabeans.com/2008/04/jo-hyun-jae- bracing-self-for-public-outcry based on a report from News.Mk.co.kr and the Daily Surprise).  When I read that blog entry I was bothered that such malicious rumors are being reported as legitimate news and not as mere speculations by people who are intent on putting certain celebrities in a bad light.  If Hyun Jae’s camp issued an explanation to this controversy, it was never posted in that blog.  But I was never interested in an explanation anyway, because I never doubted, not even for a second, our Hyun Jae’s integrity.  I believe him to be a man of honor – a man who will never shirk his duty to his country.  I never sought an explanation to the controversy because I know that in his own good time, our Hyun Jae will prove those people wrong.  He is a man of few words, we all know that, so I know he will not waste words explaining himself.  He will just do what needs to be done, and let his actions speak for himself.   And his actions did speak for him, so well in fact, as indicated by his two promotions!!!

(Credit: Photo courtesy of http://jo-hyunjae.com.  Thanks!)