The Legend of the Blue Sea starring Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Min-ho

The Legend of the Blue Sea starring Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Min-ho is going to be another big hit for Korean drama fan. Same goes to the destinations and products seen in this series will go a long way after this. Enjoy the series and immerse in the subliminal perception of marketing!

The official trailer:

Descendants of the sun 2016

To understand why this drama is so popular now, it is best to explore it myself. This is called the 'Immersion Methodology', a very useful method to in effective learning and research:

By the way, there must be some reasons why it is so popular right? So these are some of my findings on the variables:

1. Good looking actor (Song Joong-Ki) and pretty actress (Song Hye-Kyo)


2. A good story line that triggers love and hatred emotion (this always sells!)

3. Action elements (fighting and shooting scenes)
4. Humour - there must be some jokers who are not needed actually but play some important roles in the drama
5. Beautiful scenery - people like to see unique places and fall in love with it (might end up turning the location into a tourist destination - famous in Korean drama)

6. Lastly, a spectacular theme song at every emotional moments in the drama (yes, that 'you are my everything' is the OST, lovely!)

Enjoy this beautiful song by Gummy, Park Ji Yeon.

E.T. Is My Love From The Star

I wonder if anyone (Gen-Y) can understand a scene in the latest popular Korean drama, My Love From The Star (来自星星的你). In episode 18, Do Min-joon (an alien who has landed on Earth 400 years ago during Josean Dynasty) was asked by Cheon Yoon-jae to connect their friendship by touching their fingers together. There is this special background music too.

This is the famous act adopted from the movie E.T. In 1982. The background music played was the original main theme soundtrack of E.T. which I think many of the Gen-Y have not heard before. It is good to bring back such memories as E.T. was known as the earlier icon of Alien explorer to planet Earth and expose the younger generations to some good old movies.

Earlier I have problems to illustrate my example using E.T. friendship with human because all my students don't what is E.T.. Well, I hope after this, some of my students can understand my examples using E.T. and its adventure on Earth.

Cultural Diversity

While I was having dinner at Madam Kwan restaurant in Pavilion shopping mall, I saw a couple came in and seated next to my table. Immediately, the guy took off his shoe and put his leg on the chair while going through the menu. People around, including the staffs were shocked.

Minutes later, when their orders came, the girl also did the same thing; took off her slippers and put her leg on the chair too. While she was eating, she starts to shake her legs (sorry, I didn't take any photo because my Lumia cannot take it). I guess she was enjoying the food while satisfying her self-actualisation needs.

At this point of time, you may be wondering where do they come from. Very obvious, they are not Malaysian. Surprisingly, this couple is from Korea. I do have Korean friends and taught some Korean students before but I don't think anyone of them will sit and shake legs like this couple. Dealing with international culture and diversity are always challenging. There are a lot for us to understand and to study in order for us to deal with the international stakeholders in business.

For some, this behaviour might be acceptable; but for others, they may get offended. I can 'simply say' that we all should respect and adapt to the local culture or practices wherever we go. Even when someone tells you to make yourself like home, that doesn't mean you can do anything you like. Having some sense of respect and courtesy to learn the local customs may helps to create an esprit de corps environment.

No offence to this couple, but it is something good for all of us to ponder on.