My Korean connection

Over the past few years, Asian telenovelas have been the hottest shows to watch.

The first and last foreign soap I’ve watched was from way back when – Marimar. This was about the same time as Mara Clara, when I migrated to the States.

I became very fond of these shows, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish any of them because I had already left before the ending.

Marimar was also a great hit for the Mexicans in Los Angeles that time. I became very frustrated because I really wanted to watch it, but they obviously had the original Spanish version airing in the States.

I tried so hard to understand it, but I really just couldn’t. Since then, I never attempted to even start watching any kind of foreign soap opera. I was afraid I won’t be able to finish the story.

It just wouldn’t be good. After Marimar in the late ‘90s, a couple more Spanish soap operas were aired, which also starred Thalia.

She has been around for many years now, and has managed to penetrate the field of music, where she became even more known to the world along with her single, I Want You featuring Fat Joe.

It has been years since Marimar ended, but I still hope to watch those episodes again.

Asian soap operas are the ones mostly being aired now, but I haven’t really had the chance to follow any of them.

Last year, the Koreanovela Princess Lulu became a great hit while it was airing on ABS-CBN.

Kim Heung Soo, one of the main characters in the series came to the Philippines for a quick visit last week.

A friend called me up about a week ago to tell me they met Kim in Boracay.

We were invited to join them there but were not able to make it due to complications with our schedules.

My friend Abby and I didn’t believe at first they met a Korean actor. I thought they were just saying that so we would follow them to Boracay.

We teased them to bring their Korean friends over here in Manila, and so they did, right on the next day!

I was surprised to get a text for a dinner invite along with our other friends and the "Korean guys."

The dinner was set at Fort Bonifacio, but I wasn’t able to make it because of a dance rehearsal.

Instead, I met up with them in Makati after dinner and it was here where I met Kim with his model friends Simon and Nah.

I was amused to find everyone standing by our meeting place and saw a couple of really tall Korean hotties.

I shook hands with Kim, and since then they kept teasing us because they had shown him my pictures beforehand and they said he wanted to meet me.

This was my first time to hang out with a Korean actor and he was very friendly.

There wasn’t really much of a conversation going on because the music was loud and he couldn’t speak English very well.

We all danced the night away. I couldn’t help but ask about the long hair and he said, "It’s for a movie. I’m going back to shoot a horror film."

Kim was so adorable everytime he smiled at us and said, "I’m sorry about my English," with a hand gesture.

I had so much fun having small chats with him because, even if we literally come from different worlds, we managed to make ourselves fit in the situation.

He was very accommodating and sweet to everyone on the table.

No words needed to be said at all. This guy is absolutely down to earth and didn’t make us feel he was in any way better than us.

Actions definitely speak louder than words. Kim is only 23 and acts his age.

He entertained us well with his great sense of humor.

Kim says he and his friends plan to come back for another visit six months from now.

He will start shooting a film as soon as he returns to Korea. Meantime, they invited us to come and visit them there.

We’re all definitely staying in touch! An article about Korea doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.

Have a great Sunday!

You can e-mail me at [email protected].