LOΛE , RIN

My Favorite K-Pop Christmas Songs!

December 20, 2017

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Dear Reader,

I know quite a few people who follow me on social media really like kpop, but I wonder how many kpop Christmas songs you know? Here are ten of my personal favorite, which I am forever grateful for, because it’s a break from all the American songs I’ve heard ten million times.

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So, let’s go!

The Cube Family Christmas Song! It’s a little old, we got B2ST, Apink, 4Minute, and even G.na! among others lol, but to me this will always be OG Cube Family TT_TT

Starship Planet – Snow Candy! This is my favorite Starship Christmas song! God, I miss Boyfriend. And we got K.Will too, and so many other talented artists!

EXO (M) – Miracles in December. I’m crying, I miss OT12. You have no idea, Lulu, Kris, Tao. This song is so beautiful, and I miss them so much. Excuse me while I go cry in my corner…

TTS – Dear Santsa. Not gonna lie, I didn’t realize there was an English version of this. I’ve been listening to the Korean version, I was kind of shook when I searched it to add to this playlist.

Orange Caramel & Nu’est- Dashing Through the Snow in Highheels. Yeah, if you know me at all you, you know I stan Nu’est, ergo, enjoy this masterpiece!

JYP Nation – This Christmas. Yeah, OG JYP, must I say more??

Taeyeon – This Christmas. This song came out a few days ago, but I’m adding it to my library anyway! I really like the calming melody, and Taeyeon’s voice is majestic!

Starship Planet – Christmas Day. This years Starship christmas song! It’s really good! The best one they’ve had since 2013~

f(x) – 12시 25분 (Wish List). Hello, I stan f(x), and you should too! Jk(but not really), in all seriousness this is a dreamy song, and I’m still screaming over it years later~

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SHINee – Winter Wonderland. This is a Japanese song, and it’s so good! SHINee are true kings.

TEEN TOP – Snow Kiss. I love Teen Top, they are so goofy and silly. This song is the cutest!

So there you have it, my top kpop christmas songs! I feel like this playlist made me look like the biggest SM Entertainment stan, but I’m really not 😂 I hope you liked it~ Have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays everyone!!

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Love,

Rin

Diary Entry: Travel Announcement

December 18, 2017

Dear Reader,

So, I’m off to Florida in exactly one week! I really, really love reading or watching people’s travel blogs/vlogs, so I wanted to document all of my adventures here! I went to Florida last year, and I kind of wish I had recorded my trip in someway. I’ll be posting some travel essentials, travel blogs, and of course my playlist~

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Also, I haven’t done much this week expect study, and take finals. I got all A’s and B’s this semester, so yay for that! I was actually pretty stressed out. I bought the last of my Christmas gifts, and I’ve just been chilling out since then.

Yesterday, I picked up my childhood best friend from the airport. If you read my Fairbanks trip blog, she was one of the people I was visiting. We made a yummy salmon dinner, and then tomorrow I’m taking her to our adopted grandma’s house, where she’ll stay until Thursday. I would stay and visit too, but I have work (she lives in the town over, and it’s about a half an hour drive).

So it will be a pretty uneventful week. I will admit that I’m really excited for my vacation, I’m pretty much already packed. The weather in Alaska the last few weeks has really sucked, I just want to go somewhere and enjoy the beach and sun.

This trip has pretty much been the one thing getting me through the winter, so I’m really hyped. It’s been a long semester.

Anyway~ That’s been my week! As always, thanks for reading, and I’ll catch you later!

Bye~

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Love,

Rin

Manga Tag

December 11, 2017

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Dear Reader,

I feel like I should blog at least once a week, but because I’m in the middle of finals– not much else is happening in my life, and I highly doubt you guys want to read a diary entry about my life in a crisis, so here’s a tag I found on Youtube!

I have a manga IG, which is the one on my side bar, and I thought this tag looked fun! Without further ado, here’s my answers, enjoy!

1. What was your first manga?

Skip Beat! My friend bought it for me in middle school as a birthday gift. At the time, I like manga, but I was a poor child who couldn’t afford to own my own lol.

2. What was your most expensive manga?

I don’t own any “expensive manga” because I usually just buy regular single volumes. Horimiya is $13.00 so I’ll go with that 😬

3. What was your least expensive manga?

A local book store was doing a backlog sale, and all books were a dollar each. I bought two volumes of Vampire Knight for that lol

4. What is the most boring manga you own?

Ghost Diary? I bought it because the cover was really pretty, and I like girls with pink hair, and she had a cool eye patch. However, it was pretty boring, and the story was hard to follow. Oh well, I still like the cover.

5. What is your favourite manga (series)?

Vampire Knight. I know everyone hates Yuuki and Kaname, I mean let’s face it they’re both pretty awful, but for some reason that makes me like them more!

6. What is the most relatable manga that you own?

Horimiya, I’d have to say. Hori-san pretty much raises her brother, and I can relate to being the older sibling who takes care of the younger one.

7. What is one manga that you own that is based off of an anime? (Not the other way around)

I don’t own any manga like this, most of the manga I own have anime’s based off them, not the other way around.

8. What is your rarest manga?

Vampire Game by Judal. Tbh, I’ve never seen anyone else with that manga. No one talks about it either, but a friend bought it for me in high school as a Christmas gift, and honestly I have no idea where she got it…

9. One of your reprinted manga. (Printed in the past but printed again by another company).

Again, I don’t have any manga like this. At least, not to my knowledge?

10. The most popular manga series you own.

I see One Count a lot!

11. What is the most damaged manga you own?

I have a random volume of Hana Yori Dango that’s pretty beat up. I don’t know where I got it either, it may have been gifted to me?

12. Which manga has the most amazing art?

I looove the art from The Water Dragon’s Bride, especially the water colored covers!

13. Oldest published manga that you own?

I’m going to go with the random volume of Hana Yori Dango I own, because the original was published in the early 90s.

14. Newest published manga that you own?

The Water Dragon’s Bride, vol 3!

15. A recent manga that you purchased.

Horimiya vol 3! I’m finally getting around to collecting them!

Well, that’s a wrap! Good luck to all the other students out there prepping for finals! Catch you later, bye-bye!

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Love,

Rin

Diary Entry: Mochi Festival

December 6, 2017

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Dear Reader,

Today, my friend Sam and I went to a rice cake pounding festival! We had delicious mochi, and had a lot of fun. It was held by the Japan Alaska Association, we learned a bit about rice pounding, and the traditions of it.

Then, we got to taste it! I kind of preferred this fresh mochi over the kind that you buy in the store. Usually it’s super sweet, but this mochi was plain, but was flavored by the fillings or soup. We tried one with red bean paste, which was super delish!

We also had some kind of mochi and vegetables in a fish broth soup, which was also really yummy! And plain mochi dipped in some starch that tasted like peanut butter. Sam was not a fan of either of these two dishes, but I quite enjoyed them.

Anyway, it was really interesting, and I had fun! After we ate mochi, we decided to have sushi for dinner. I would have taken pictures of that, but the lighting was awful. . . Anyway, this was just a quick post to share our food adventure!

Have a great week guys, and good luck to any students who are about to face finals! As always, thanks for reading~ bye~

Love,

Rin

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Diary Entry: I Chopped My Hair Off

December 2, 2017

Dear Reader,

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, not much has been going on, and I’ve been busy with the semester ending. I was actually in Wasilla for an eye-doctor appointment, and I had time before work, so I went in and got a hair cut.

I decided to cut my hair for several reasons. 1) it was so dry and damaged from the split ends, I thought I would lose my mind 2) my job requires me to wear my hair up, and I hate that, and 3) I just needed a change!

So now all my hair is gone!

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I got kind a slight A-line, where it’s shorter in the back and longer in the front. With long layers, and a face framing instead of bangs.

My hair is slightly curly, so I’ll have to do a little more upkeep, but I’m enjoying it so far.

My sister thinks I look like a soccer mom, but that’s okay. It matches my old lady aesthetic. I think I look like a 30-year-old office worker, like in the manga Idol Dreams, but you know.

I’m thinking about making a dedicated food blog post, but I’m not sure how I would go about doing that. Maybe a blog about good places to eat in Anchorage, Alaska? Or a, “What I ate in a Month” blog post? I won’t do it this month though, because I’m going on vacation at the end of the month, and I’m going to do a separate post about that.

Here is some pho I yesterday, it was really delicious! I also had some coffee and a apple tart from the Starbucks in Barnes and Noble. It was pretty satisfying! It was great. I usually post food pictures on my IG stories, so if you want to see more food stuffs follow my instagram!

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Also, happy december! Wooo, I can’t believe it’s already here! This blows my mind, honestly.

It’s been snowing quite a bit, but also warm at the same time, so it’s resulted in a lot of slush. I also put up our Christmas tree! I bought it when my sister and I lived in a tiny apartment, so it’s really small too. But I still like it, so there’s no need to waste money and buy a bigger tree.

So yeah! That’s what I’ve been up to as of late. Tomorrow, my friend Sam and I are going to a Japanese mochi festival, so I’ll take pics and share my adventures there.

As always, thanks for reading!

Love,

Rin

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Diary Entry: Christmas Shopping in November

November 12, 2017

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Dear Reader,

This week has been full of papers and job application deadlines. I’ve been so busy with my current job, and I had to write two papers for school, and a paper for the JET application, so it was a hectic week.

Also, don’t hurt me but, I’ve already started my Christmas present shopping. I got my adopted grandma a fancy cheese and cracker combo set! It looks really yummy, and she’s from Wisconsin so I think she’ll really enjoy it.

(look at how precious my wrapping is! I’ve had this wrapping for three years, and it’s finally starting to run out. but yes, behold the fruits of my labor, and that’s not even a dent in all the gifts I need to collect…)

I hate present shopping, I’m always torn between getting something cute and useless, or getting something functional. Or, if I should just get people food or not, because what if they don’t like the present I got them? You can’t go wrong with chocolate and sweets! Or cheese and crackers in my family’s case lol.

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I’m still waiting until Black Friday to buy the bulk of my gifts, but it was fun to get out and see what’s on the market. Plus, I went with a friend, and we made a day of it. The only problem was the dark! We let her house at 1pm, and got back around 5pm, but it felt closer to 7pm due to the weather. I was tired when I got home that I just went to bed and watched the latest episode of While You Were Sleeping, but I didn’t do anything that strenuous.

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Oh, and the snow is back. It snowed on 10/23, and then it disappeared, but now it’s here to stay. The roads are awful, honestly Anchorage doesn’t take very good care of the roads because they spent their budget elsewhere. Last year they told us they had to either cut the police force or the road upkeep, and really this is Alaska. What did they think was more important than the road upkeep??

Ai. Anyway, I got new glasses! I had nerd glasses in the past, but now I have these cute granny glasses. I really wanted circle glasses, like the ones in snapchat filters, but they didn’t have any in the store I went too. Alaska is so behind on the times, I just wanted to be a stylish nerd, but now I’m a stylish granny. Which, I’m not that mad about, but you know…

(Ai, the border in this picture isn’t showing up, but it’s from my personal IG if you want to check it out @rinnn_0315)

Anyway, that was my week. How was yours? Let me know in the comments bellow, or tweet me @love_rinnn on twitter!

As always, thanks for reading, and I’ll catch you later~

Bye!

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Diary Entry: Halloween 2017 and Other Spooky Horrors

November 3, 2017

Dear Reader,

This year was my last Halloween in Alaska! I didn’t even dress up L O L, but I wore contacts and a cute skirt. I told everyone I was a functioning human for halloween (as apposed to the zombie I normally dress like). halloween2

Sadly, it was a school day, but I took selfies in the cafe on campus, and had lunch with my friend Sam! Afterwards, she went to class at 3pm, and I went and hid in the library until my 5:30pm class and got caught up on the Korean drama While You Were Sleeping, which stars two of my faves Lee Jongsuk and Bae Suji! It’s soooo good, about a reporter and a prosecutor who have dreams about the future!

It’s really addictive, and I would 10/10 recommend! I’ve watched most of Suji’s work, and she’s so charming, but I would have to say this is my favorite drama she’s ever done. Same goes for Lee Jongsuk, I thought he was really great in Pinocchio, but honestly this is so much better! I never thought I would like him with anyone other than Park Shinhye, but he and Suji’s chemistry is off the charts! It’s seriously so good.

Anyway, that weekend, there was a gust of wind that came through from the pacific and melted all the snow, it was 40 degrees! So warm for October, but by Tuesday things had cooled off, and it caused Halloween to be spooky indeed: it was foggy everywhere.

(The first picture is from the second floor of the library, and the second picture is outside on my way to class)

My inner goth child was really happy with the weather. After that I had class until 8, and my other friend and I went to the library until 11pm to work on our papers for the history class we’re taking together.

After that I went home, ate some chicken, and watched some YouTube, then went to sleep. I had a pretty great holiday~

So, let me know how your Halloween went down below, and as always: thanks for reading, and I’ll catch you later!

Bye!

Love,

Rin

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Diary Entry: The First Snow

October 23, 2017

Dear reader,

So, we had our first snow of the season on Saturday (10/21), and I almost died twice. I left the house to go buy water at Costco, and the light turned red, so I break and I couldn’t stop because the road was slick. So I made a sharp turn, and I lived.

The second time, someone almost t-boned me. I was driving by, and they tried to break, but they kept sliding, and almost hit me. Had I been going any slower they would have hit me, but I missed them by an inch because I saw them slide straight into the road behind me. Thankfully there was no one behind me, but I bet they were scared.

IMG: the view from my bedroom window Saturday night.

By the time today rolled around, most of the snow was gone, but it’s still hecka cold up here. It was 19 degree Fahrenheit this morning, and I heard it was even colder in Fairbanks. Which I can barely imagine, so I’m glad I live in Anchorage at least.

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Aside from the snow, I’m just filling out paperwork, attending classes, and working. As a hobby I’ve been taking pictures for Instagram, which you can see in the sidebar. I have two accounts, a manga account, and last week I started a personal account, so I can post pictures of my travels and stuff. (love_rinnn is my manga account, and rinnn_0315 is my personal)

So, there’s an update! Take care, and tell me something fun happening in your life down below!

Love,

Rin

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NU’EST W – W. HERE Mini Album Review

October 19, 2017

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Dear Reader,

I’ve been a fan of Nu’est since I was fourteen (has it been that long ? (╥_╥) I feel old lol), and I’ve watched them fall, and now rise, and I’ve never been prouder to be someone’s fan! They’ve really worked hard, so I wanted to dedicate a post to them! Unfortunately (it’s bitter-sweet really), Emperor Hwang is promoting with Wanna One, so he couldn’t participate on this album, but I’m still giving him an honorable mention.

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So, without further ado, let me introduce you to the songs~🌸

1. 하루만 (haruman)

Translated as “Just One Day” I see this as their love song to Minhyun with lyrics like “you left without a single word, what can I do about that?” Minhyun had to leave to be in Wanna One but “give me a little bit of time, just one day” and “stay by my side, just for today, I feel like I’m going to go crazy, but I’ll bear it, because you will return.” I felt so sad hearing this song, I miss Emperor Hwang too, but he’ll be back, one day.

It’s a slow song, with a romantic melody, fun beat, and dramatic drop beat!

Find the full lyrics here!

2. Where You At ⭐

I think this is my favorite song on the album, I will admit I was a bit skeptical when I first heard it, because it was so different from any of their older stuff, but it quickly grew on me! Now I listen to it all day everyday.

Plus, the lyrics are extremely nice and I relate, “while you weren’t here, my heart longed for you, now it’s bruised, black and blue” which is how I felt when they were away from fans while competing on Produce 101 Season Two, and also how I feel with Minhyun promoting with Wanna One. “I’m wandering here and there, looking for you
I run around, searching but I’m still only in my room,” seriously–me too.

The song is a calm melody with longing lyrics, and a boppy beat.

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Find the complete lyrics here!

3. Paradise (Ren Solo)

I felt like this was a song for fans, everyone knows how much Ren loves and appreciates his LOVES. So yeah, I mean it could be a song for someone special, but I know we’re special to him too, so I’ll just stick to that. “When I’m thinkin ’bout you, yeh yeh, you are my Paradise!” Oh thanks, what a precious bean 💖

The song has a heartfelt melody, and a flowing beat! Perfect for the times when you feel happy and want to listen to an equally happy song~

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4. Good Love (Aron Solo)

HAHAHA, this song is so American, it’s perfect for Aron! I don’t know why, but it’s so hard to find reliable translations for Ren and Aron’s songs! But either way, this was another song about appreciating someone, and how he loved the person in the song, and needed them, hence, he’ll give us “good love.” Which, is so sweet! Paradise and Good Love are tied for me in terms of best solo!

Good Love is a poppy song with a happy beat! Please give Aron some love, and give the song a listen!

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5. With (JR Solo)

This song is so emotional, JR is the rapper of the group, but he sang a lot in this song. Plus there is a choir in the background, and I was just so blown away by this song. I really felt this song was to Minhyun, because JR sings “I saw you shedding tears at the back, I turned away because I felt too cowardly to approach you.” Which, when Minhyun was the only one to make it into Wanna One, he cried so hard because he felt bad no one else made it in, especially JR because he was the most “promising” trainee. So, this song made me really emotional, and JR is such an angel that I can’t even.

The song is a slow and soft melody that will make your heart ache. You can really feel his feelings in this song, and you will ache with him.

Find the full lyrics here!

6. 지금까지 행복했어요 (Baekho Solo)

Ugh, this song is so good. (TW// death of family member) Baekho’s dad passed away this summer, and Baekho was surrounded by a controversy, which I’m going to say why, but this must have been a hard summer for him. The lyrics read, “I am not alone, you really don’t have to worry about me.” And “with how much of a child I always was, did I ever make you cry with my childish ways?” You can tell this is the song of a child to their parent, which I can empathize with as the oldest child of my family.

The song is a soothing song, with an angelic voice that will make you miss a loved one, or home if you live away from them.

Find the full lyrics here!

Bonus: from the Love Paint Mini Album

Daybreak – MinHyun feat. JR

Okay, technically this is JR and Minhyun’s song, but Minhyun did all the singing and JR did all the rapping, so we can all pretend this was Minhyun’s solo! I miss MinHyun a lot, but he’s promoting with Wanna One for the greater good, and I’ll just cheer him on until the end!

So, what’s my rating of the album? 10/10, of course! Seriously, all of the songs were really good, and they’ve worked so so so hard over the last six years, I’m so happy they’re finally experiencing popularity.

Buy the album on iTunes/ Google Play or find it on Spotify!

Thank you giving my loves a chance, and reading this fangirl rant! As always, see you next time~ Bye!

Love,

Rin

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Diary Entry: Senshi Con 2017

October 8, 2017

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Dear Reader,

I went to my first anime convention! Senshi Con is held in Anchorage every year, and even though it was a thing when I was in high school, I finally manage to make it like seven years later! Haha, it was a lot of fun!

I went with my friend Sam! She drove us there, and then we walked to the event from the parking garage one street over. Neither of us have a sense of direction, and we may have gotten a little lost. It took us half an hour to walk to a place that should have taken us ten minutes… But I saw some interesting sculptures!

After we figured out we were going the wrong way, Sam lend us to the Dena’ina Center where the Con was being held (yes, I was the one who got us lost). From there we checked in (we pre-registered) and then walked into the venue.

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There were a ton of booths with art, trinkets, and merch! Between Sam and I, we probably spent $100 on just art. She has a thing for Boku no Hero Academia and it was EVERYWHERE. I got art from Kami-sama no Kiss, and Princess Mononoke!

There was also kpop merch, and I got cute folders of Nu’est and Teen Top, but they were both older from around 2012. I also got a Black Pink folder, which was their lastest comeback, As If It’s Your Last! I also got a cute plushy, and three enamel pins!

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After that, we went to the 5th avenue mall, and hung out for awhile. We ate a late lunch in the food court, which wasn’t very aesthetically pleasing, so I didn’t snap a pic of it for you… Oh, and we went into Hot Topic, Sephora, and Lush! We didn’t get anything, but it was fun looking around.

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I really enjoyed the con, we mostly looked around, and talked to vendors! I was able to find some new artists to support as well. When we went home, Sam wished she had bought more posters, but I’m pretty satisfied with what I picked up. Next year, I won’t be able to go, so I’m glad I finally had a chance to experience Alaska’s tiny comic con.

Anyway, that’s all! I went home and wrote a paper that was due at midnight, and made dinner for my little sister. The rest of that Sunday was pretty uneventful.

So, as always, thanks for reading! Don’t foget to follow me on all my social media, and I’ll catch you all later!

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Question of the day: have you ever gone to a con? Tell me you experience down below!

Love,

Rin

just a girl, wandering around the world