Jo Hyun Jae

Here are some countdown photos from JHJ fans in Japan, the first two by ahiru (posted on CarpeDiemJAPAN) and the other two by hart (posted on jo-hyunjae.com)  Many thanks!

Today is Countdown 74.  Countdown 75 was yesterday.

“3 Dads/1 Mom” premiered in Korea in early April 2008 and has since been shown and re-shown in other countries like Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand (any more?)  Watching this video brings back all the fun (the second half of the video is ALL JHJ.)  No wonder they did a re-make in the Philippines.  Jo Hyun-Jae’s Han Soo-Hyun looks absolutely dashing in a suit or casual wear.  We wonder what the Filipino HSH looks like.

(Credit: Photos by ahiru of CarpeDiemJAPAN; www.johyunjae.hk. Thanks!)

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Just want you to know

that I’m thinking of you

Gosh!  These words are so cliche and yet still so meaningful, enough for me to buy this simple, sentimental card for Jo Hyun-Jae.

The photo is a little small but we love the words.  We miss you too, JHJ!  Yes, see you in 75 days!

(Credit: prissymom of wulijohyunjae.  Thanks!)

Today is Easter Sunday, so here is everybody’s favourite priest, Andrea.  Andrea is also everybody’s favourite obba (big brother) or brother or son.  Someone once said to me: “If my parish priest looks like Andrea, I’ll go to church every day.”  As it is, she is now a “retired” Catholic (i.e. she doesn’t go to church anymore.)  She also said: “A priest should not sleep with a woman (even though they are fully clothed.)”  Some people are hard to please (Sigh!)

(Credit: We thank the creator of this video.)

Here are the latest Jo Hyun-Jae photos, just released by the Official JHJ Fan Club.  If you have the 2009 JHJ calendar, you’ll know these are unused photos taken at that time.  These are considered not good enough to be used, but they look just as good as ever to us.  Have you ever seen a JHJ photo that is not good, whether he is posing or not?

Now, what does our post title have to do with anything?  Everything!

Six degrees of separation (also referred to as the “Human Web”) refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth. It was popularized by a play written by John Guare.

We want to play a game with you.  If you win, you will win a JHJ prize.  Interested?

Let’s flashback to our last day in Busan.  We were waiting for the airport bus in our hotel lobby.  We had plenty of time to kill.  We were just sitting there watching the world go by.  We saw 4 Japanese girls who loved posing for photos; finally one of them asked us to take a photo for them.  Then there was the handsome young Caucasian man in a full-length brown leather coat whom I was sure was a model; he sat there reading a book and almost missed his airport bus.

Then 6 or 7 young people brought some equipment to set up in the lobby.  We figured they were going to do a photo shoot.  There were no crowds, no screaming fans, no fanfare, so we were very surprised when (guess who?) appeared!

The game is GUESS WHO?  We will give you 3 clues:

1.  This Korean actor is very famous.
2.  He appeared in a drama with Song Hye-Kyo.
3.  He has finished his military service.

To go back to Six Degrees of Separation, the idea is this: A is related to B; B is related to C; C is related to D; D is related to E; E is related to F; so A is related to F.  Got it?

Now this actor is only Three Degrees of Separation from JHJ.  JHJ appeared in “Sunshsine” with Song Hye-Kyo; SHK appeared in a drama with this actor; so this actor is sort of connected to JHJ.

The first one to give the correct answer on our blog will be the winner.  The answer will be revealed as soon as someone has guessed correctly.  Shouldn’t be too difficult for smart JHJ fans. 

(Credit: Photos courtesy of http://jo-hyunjae.com.  Thanks!  FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS, PLEASE DO NOT COPY, TRANSFER, OR REPRODUCE PHOTOS.)

May 9, 2010 is Jo Hyun-Jae’s 31st birthday (by Korean reckoning, otherwise he’s just 30.)

If you’d like to send birthday greetings to JHJ through us, please EITHER leave message on this blog OR e-mail us at jhjfans@gmail.com.

Please include your name and city/country, e.g. Mary Smith (New York, U.S.A.) — so JHJ will know he has fans all over the world.

We will translate your message into Korean and mail it (together with your original) to JHJ, along with our birthday present for him at the end of April.

So please let us have your birthday wishes for JHJ before April 14.  Make it SHORT and SWEET!

(Credit: photo courtesy of EVERjohyunjae.co.kr.  Thanks!)

(Countdown 79 is actually yesterday. Today is 78. This photo is by Hart of CarpeDiemJAPAN, posted on jo-hyunjae.com. Thanks!  We’re using it here because of the cherry blossoms.  How come Japanese cherry blossoms seem bigger and pinker than Korean ones? )

I might as well confess at the outset that we didn’t see any cherry blossoms, well, hardly any, and that was in the most unlikely place. It was too cold; we were maybe two weeks early.

It was evening when we arrived and darkness descended over the city very quickly. On the way from the airport to our hotel, we saw a lot of outlines of skyscrapers.  Busan is South Korea’s second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million.  Located on the southeasternmost tip of the Korean Peninsula, it is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world (according to Wikipedia.)

Busan was the host city of the 2002 Asian Games and APEC 2005 Korea. It was also one of the host cities for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and is a centre for international conventions in Korea. On November 14, 2005, the city officially announced its bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.

With those facts and figures out of the way, let me recount our 3N/4D adventures.  M wanted to see cherry blossoms, and I have seen them in Japan.  She found a most attractive (i.e. cheap) package to Busan, in the land of JHJ, so off we went.  Our hotel is on Haeundae Beach — the location for that 2009 Korean blockbuster “Haeundae” (called “Tidal Wave” in the west) about tsunami that is billed as Korea’s first disaster movie.  The 3 characters which make up Haeundae are actually Chinese — hae = sea; un = cloud; dae = terrace or platform.

Haeundae Beach in the summer (left) and in March

Haeundae Beach is the most popular beach in Korea, but in this off-season there are not many people at the seaside, mostly Korean families with children.  Photos of Haeundae Beach in the summer show it jampacked with humanity!  On 2008.8.2. they competed for the most parasols on the beach for the Guinness Book of World Records (7,937) and on 2008.8.3 they competed for the largest “sand painting” for the Guinness Book of World Records (width 40m X length 23m.)  Did they win?  I guess they would have said so if they did.

We are fussy ajumas and we didn’t want to get our feet wet or our shoes filled with sand, so we just strolled on the boardwalk.  We certainly left our footprints on the boardwalk — we walked back and forth everyday (for our daily exercise.)  The air was very refreshing (i.e. cold) and the sea breeze bracing (i.e. windy), but it was pleasant and quite a change from city life.  We saw a lot of seagulls and children digging for seashells.  We thought of that last scene in “Sunshine” and we wondered where it was shot.  Could it have been on this beach?  But there are so many beaches in South Korea.

Since we were in Busan to see cherry blossoms, we enquired at the Tourist Office and was directed to the best place – Moontan Road – within walking distance from our hotel.  Billed as “one of the 8 wonders of Korea from ancient times”, it is a quiet path with 15 curves, lined with cherry blossom and pine trees, “harmonizing with the exquisite ocean beauty.”  “It is also famous for the striking grandeur of the moonrise and the dramatic wonder of the fading sunset.”  Well, we were there in the morning, so we missed out on the sunset and the moonrise.  Alas! we also missed out on the cherry blossoms — the trees were there all right, but they were not yet flowering (lots of buds, though.)  We sent a postcard of the Moontan Road with glorious cherry blossoms to JHJ.

Along Moontan Road even the electricity boxes (for the streetlamps) are covered in cherry blossoms.  At first we thought they were mailboxes.

On one of our walks along the beach, we passed a pier, so we took a cruise (bad idea!)  The excursion ship makes a round trip to Dongbaek Island, Gwangan Grand Bridge, and Oryuko and back to Haeundae.  Dongbaek Island was an island in ancient times but is now “an island connected with land” (which would make it a peninsula in our book), but the Koreans still call it an island!  The “island” is thick with camellias and pine trees, and on the summit lie the statue and the monument of the great scholar Choi Chi-Won who carved the words “Haeundae” on the cliff.

The Oryuk (5 or 6) Islets consist of 5 islets.  At high tide, the sea rises to the middle of Bangpae (Shield) Islet which then appears as if it is two separate islets, which accounts for its name Oryuk (meaning 5 or 6.)  When the tides recede, the islet can again be seen as a whole.

I don’t know why I consented to go on this cruise (I get seasick!)  Once the boat started, it was so cold and windy we nearly became icicles.  During the one-hour cruise, I kept praying I could survive the trip without getting sick (seasick and catching cold.)  Good thing God was listening!

That’s all for outdoor sightseeing – the rest are all indoor sightseeing, namely, shopping!  Bet you don’t know (we didn’t) Busan is home to the world’s largest department store, the Shinsegae Centum City (in the Guinness Book of Records – Koreans seem obsessed with the GBR!) which was only opened half a year ago.  “Shinsegae” is again Chinese (meaning “new world”) — it’s pretty big and impressive, with an ice-rink (where we had lunch and watched children ice-skating), a world-class spa (which we did not patronize, although tempted to try stone therapy, like Han Soo-Hyun in “3 Dads/1 Mom”), and two gigantic department stores (where we spent half a day.)

My greatest discovery on this trip is Korean cosmetics.  I have never used Korean cosmetics before, even though I have seen their products advertised.  And of course they have counters in all the big department stores in Asia.  M had a whole shopping list for her friends, and it was a learning experience for me.  Just sitting there watching the salesgirl demonstrate their products opened a whole new world for me.

I really shouldn’t be promoting any brands except JHJ here, but Sxxxxxsoo’s slogan “Asian wisdom and Korean medicinal herbs to restore healthy looking skin” aroused my interest.  I have never seen “wisdom” and “medicine” associated with cosmetics before.  When I read “Sxxxxxsoo Skin Care draws from ancient wisdom to balance Yin and Yang energies to promote harmony and balance in the skin”, I was intrigued.  And when the very pretty salesgirl gave me some samples and a mirror (even though I was not a customer), I was sold.  As a courtesy, I felt I had to buy something, so I got the Extra Refining Cream and Eye Cream (more expensive than our package tour! but I never do things by halves.)  She then gave me so many little gift bottles that I was thoroughly confused.  In the end she had to label them 1, 2, 3, etc. – sequence of use.  The final number is 7 – yes, to have beautiful skin I have to smear 7 layers of assorted lotions and creams on my face!  Who has time for this?  But since they are all free, I of course graciously accepted the lot.  I am resolved to make myself look better so as not to frighten JHJ with my ajuma face on June 19.   I guess most of the Korean actresses use this brand since it is top of the line.  If I can look 1/100th like them, my investment would have paid off.

And oh! cherry blossoms!  Where in Busan do you think we finally saw cherry blossoms?  On the rooftop of Shinsegae!  We went up there to check out the restaurants, and lo and behold! cherry blossoms!  What you see in these photos testifies to the skill and ingenuity of the photographer (namely, yours truly!) — the real thing looked very sparse and spaced out, and in fact, only a couple of trees were flowering.  Still, we came for cherry blossoms, and at least now we don’t have to “plagiarize” a photo from the internet.

(Credit: All photos by wulijohyunjae, except the one of Haeundae Beach in the summer [from the internet], JHJ in “Sunshsine” [courtesy of carpediemJapan], and the Sxxxxxsoo photo [from their official website].  Thanks!)

This chart represents what CarpeDiem (CAFE) has done for Jo Hyun-Jae in the nearly two years he has been in the army. 

Can you read it?   Columns left to right: 1) Date; 2) countdown to discharge; 3) JHJ news; 4) CarpeDiem’s contributions.

To get you started:

3)  2008/8/5  Enlistment…..8/27 Training photos released…..9/12 Private 2nd Class…..11/12 Entered army 100 days…..2009/2 Private 1st Class………………….2010/5/9 31st birthday …..6/19 Discharge.

4)  2008/8/5  Seeing JHJ off to the army…..9/16 Supplies/gifts #1, also CarpeDiem Magazine Vol.1…………………2010/5/9 Birthday celebrations…..6/19 Preparations for discharge.

Got it?  When we see this, we feel JHJ is so lucky to have fans like these.  But then we are also lucky to have JHJ.

(Credit: Ahiru of CarpeDiemJAPAN.  Thanks!)