Friday, 13 June 2008

K-popped!'s 1st Anniversary

Hello K-popped! readers,

We celebrate our 1st anniversary today! *breaks out the champagne*

Boy, have we seen the site grow - from getting less than 10 readers a day to one that attracts some 6,000 readers (and we hope the number continues to grow). It's all thanks to all of you who have shared your love of all things Korean with us.

We do not claim to be K-pop Know-Alls. In fact, we're sure most of you were K-popped! waaay before any of us as we only discovered the Hallyu, and subsequently Korean culture, in 2007 (story here).

Yes, we're fairly babies to all things Korean, yet our interest, curiosity and support from fellow K-poppers have encouraged us to soak up all things Korean like dry sponges :-P.

On this special day, we'd like to share with you 10 of K-popped!'s more memorable stories after a solid year of K-poppin'. We share with you the story behind the stories, which are listed in no particular order. Enjoy!

1) The Cross showcase in Malaysia

The Korean duo held a showcase in Malaysia on Aug 12, 2007 and this was the first event K-popped! was officially invited to as part of the media, thanks to the now defunct Kpop Kingdom.

1st official K-popped! coverage: Not quite K-pop's A-listers but
The Cross gave us the opportunity to bring our readers
original content. We. Want. More.


Orchid got to use her passion for photography during the event as my official photog, while my years as a writer/journalist came in handy ;-).

After gaining much satisfaction covering the event, the experience led us to cover the TVXQ concert in Malaysia on Nov 24, 2007 and the FT Island concert fiasco in March this year.

Want K-popped! at your events (Korean-related only, please)? Send us an invite at: 2kpopped at gmail dot com. Press releases are also welcomed.

2) Laneige Make-up Workshop

Orchid attended a workshop with a Laniege make-up artist from Korea and she wrote about it!

Make me beautiful!: Laneige's International Trainer, Jin Lee
dispenses some make-up tips


That was her first time reporting on an event and the experience, combined with the many make-up tips and products she received during the workshop, made it one of her more memorable entries.

With her "reporting skills" honed a little, Orchid went on to cover the Malaysian Fans Celebrate Micky's Birthday on May 24.

3) Mind Your Korean series

We picked up a new language! Orchid and I enrolled for Korean language classes in Dec 2007. From knowing zilch about the language, to being able to write, speak and read (a little) Korean - it sure does give us a sense of achievement :-). 아자 아자!

안녕하세요! 우리는 K-팝이에요. 만나서 반갑습니다!

3) K-popped! in Beijing, Autumn 2007 stories

Orchid and I started out as the K-popped! Sisters, but after Rooster joined us in August 2007 (bringing on board her skills as an illustrator) we became the K-popped! Trio. Our vacation in Beijing was extremely memorable as it was the first time the Trio got together after the team was formed.

Love, love, love: K-popped! Trio shows their readers some love by
doing gymnastic-like contortions, but the Chinese men who walked
by didn't quite care for all the shenanigans.


It was really fun to hunt down all things Korean in the cold autumn days of Beijing.

From visiting modern art galleries to walking the alleys of ancient hutongs, from freezing our a$se$ off trying to flag down a taxi in the cold night air to sweating it out as we hiked the overcrowded Great Wall of China - our memories of Beijing will linger on for a long time to come.

4) K-popped! Kitchen

For those who love cooking, Rooster takes you into her kitchen and shares her culinary exploits in the aptly-titled K-popped! Kitchen. From cooking Japchae to making persimmon tea, Rooster's experiments in the kitchen are recorded for all to see. Orchid has even contributed a couple of her recipes :-).

Happy face: Rooster plays with her food because cooking
can be lonely


5) Happy 50th Birthday Malaysia!

Malaysia celebrated its 50th year of independence last year and K-popped! prepared a little piece that compared South Korea and Malaysia. We looked at the countries' national flag, its people and even food.

Same national flower: The Hibiscus is also
known as the Rose of Sharon.
Thus Malaysia's national flower = South Korea's national flower


Back then, I didn't know that the Hibiscus and Rose of Sharon are one and the same. Guess what? This means that Malaysia and South Korea have the same national flower. Kewl bananas!

6) Bad Love ratings, rants and behind-the-scenes

Orchid attempted to give a blow-by-blow recap of Kwon Sang-woo's Bad Love drama. She almost covered all 16-episodes, but an unforeseeable work commitment caused her to miss the final episode! Geez.

Guess who had to pick up where she left off? Grrr...grr...grr....

Love triangle: Bad grrr...Love grr...

7) K-popped! Trio reunites for Yee Sang

Chinese New Year 2008 and Rooster returns to Malaysia for a family reunion. The Trio hooked up and tossed the Yee Sang sky-high as they ushered in a more prosperous New Year :-).

Yam-saeng!: K-popped! Trio reunites for the Lunar New Year

The Trio also took the opportunity to visit Malaysia's Koreatown in Ampang because we love going exploring together. It's another round of delicious Korean food and...ice-cream!

8) K-popped! Around the World

An initiative to get our readers to interact with us. Only opened to K-popped! Facebook members, the project sees readers from all around the world sharing their K-popped! adventures - whether its dining in a Korean restaurant in Israel or enjoying a dolsot bibimbap in New York - it's all here.

Makin' friends: Tell us about what's K-poppin' in
your neighbourhood!


9) Dragon Wars/ D-Wars

Too bad the film turned out to be such a flop. But before watching the flick, K-popped! was all-excited when Sony Pictures Home Entertainment USA wrote us and asked if we would like to review the monster movie by Korean director Shim Hyung-rae.

We said yes, they delivered the DVD to us in Malaysia :-).

Monster flop: D-Wars is a terrible movie. Please don't go watch it.
Save money for your petrol!


Sony even mentioned about a possible interview with the director and cast during our initial e-mails but since we panned the flick (because it's really that bad), the subject was dropped. Ah well, it was no great loss to us :-P.

10) K-popped! interviews Uglydolls

Rooster who loves cartoons was star struck when she scored an exclusive interview with David Horvath, one-half of the Uglydolls creator. How nervous was she then? Well, she sent her interview questions to everyone else except Mr Horvath! Ha ha.

The love story between Horvath and his Korean ex-girlfriend - now wife - is the drive behind the series of weird 'lil critters.

Love story: David Horvath (left) and his wife Kim Sun-min
with their creations - Uglydolls


That's it friends. Ten of our more memorable entries from the past year. Again, thank you very much for reading and supporting us!

A toast: To a wonderful year of K-poppin'...and a better and more exciting K-poppin' year ahead! 화이팅!

Related:
K-popped! to celebrate 1st anniversary

42 Comments:

Anonymous said...

w00t! Congrats to k-popped for completing a year of wonderful blogging! I hope it's been fun for you guys! Out of all the blogs I read k-popped holds a special place in my heart <3

I wish I could get cool people to show up to my parties like you guys!
*guys=gals lol

Anonymous said...

am i the 1st???? HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY!~!~! hoping for more to come!!!keep up the AWESOME work!~!i know it's not an easy feat doing this..hence my salute to the 3 of u!!!
*throws confettiS*
saeng il chukahamnida!~!~!~!

i kinda forgot when i started reading k-popped..but i remembered it started out with 2 columns i think..lol n been a follower since..thanks for all ur hardwork!!!!

liz,orchid and rooster hwaiting!~!~!

*huggez n muaks* (^^)v

Photomofo said...

Congrats trio!

I hope you have many more great K-popped experiences!

:-)

Anonymous said...

Congrats...love your blog...thanks >.<

Anonymous said...

congratulations the k-popped sisters! i'm not sure when i started reading too but glad i came across this blog, i love malaysia too much that there *is* a different feeling when reading a blog on k-pop by fellow msian bloggers :D keep up with the witty captions and i can definitely see that u've learned a lot about k-pop over the past one year :) it used to be just plain news-reporting but i guess u've managed to form ur own view on certain artistes, we can see some sarcastic remarks here and there, GOOD JOB!

and i have yet to catch up with ur Mind Your Korean series, but will do soon. thanks again guys! here's to many more years to come

Anonymous said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!! I wish you all the best and more years to come!! Thank you for all the information you gave us!!! all of you are the best!!!
Saeng il Chuka hamnida!!!

I love the Art Rooster!!
DBSK is attending our party too!!
^-^ lol

Greak Job! Happy 1st Aniversary!
we all love you~~
Sarang hae yo ~

Anonymous said...

I love your blog...:) it's one of the few that have continued to be informative, entertaining, without being catty. And to top it off you guys have a gorgeous website!

Anonymous said...

congrats!!!! may we can also calebrate 2nd, 3rd or even 10th anniversary

well done!

Anonymous said...

I've just learn of your site a few months ago..so glad to come upon it. Happy 1st year and may you..something something..heheh. I don't want to sound like generic birthday card...well, keep up fantastic work. Some of us might complain or whine sometimes about content, but we still appreciate that you've taken time to update this site.

Unknown said...

grats to you 3!
love ur blog! always full of fun and interesting things!

from canada <3

Belle said...

congrats guys! i am happy for you guys! ^^

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on a marvelous first anniversary and here's to many more in the coming years! ^^

*Passes everyone a glass of soju each.*

missiy said...

Yay Happy Anniversary! I've enjoyed reading your daily news about everything K-Popped since I've stumbled on your page and will continue to read it when I am bored here at work. Keep up the great work!

Love ya guys!

Anonymous said...

Congratulation K-popped!

i don't remember when did i start read this blog. but i wished i had been reading this blog since day 1..

i love reading this blog as this blog isn't as nasty as other blog.. :P

and oh yeah..korea share the same national flower? nicee! i never knw about it!

MimieJay

Anonymous said...

Congrats!
Love ya guys!!

Aja.. aja.. fighting!!!

Anonymous said...

Congrates to K-popped !
Happy 1st Anniversary !!

W.A.W.A said...

weeee....
congratulations k-popped!
keep up the good work & have a spendid anniversary guys!!!
you guys are rock!

Anonymous said...

Congrats K-popped!!! keep on blogging bout great stuff 8D

*Saeng-il chukkahae yo 8D

Orchid said...

wow! i check the comments and am * happy * to see so many anniversary wishes! thanks to our faithful readers as well as new ones who left a message. if you are a regular commenter i remember you...and it is so apt that kpop-rubba left the 1st comment. ;-) Sometimes i wonder if you are stalking our blog hehehe * kidding we love hearing from ya *

It's great to know that all of you enjoy coming back for more! @inquinn and others who have 'helped' us along the way (like correcting our mistakes and given us tips on a particular breaking news etc. ) thank you too!

For the "anonymous-es" out there. I personally hope that you would leave your name or a pseudonym. That way we can recognize you. =)

Here's to many many years to come * cheers * Have a fabulous weekend everyone!!

ps: Kpop-rubba...where's the party? ;-)

Anonymous said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, K-POPPED!!1111

Unknown said...

happy bday k-popped! :D

-XioN- said...

HAPPY 1ST ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!! thank you for being the 1st malaysian kpoppped blog.. so far tat i know.. n producing many intersting articles to read n know about korea n the places to eat in malaysia... :D

continue to write n will always support u guys... good job well done.. :D

Anonymous said...

sheng ri chu ka ae'..

yea yea, my korean is tat bad.

Anonymous said...

"CONGRATULATION..CONGRATULATION" (imagine Ha rim sing it in Coffee Prince)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY K-POPPED!!!

Anonymous said...

Saeng-i chuka ham-nida k-popped ^^

g0hy|3 said...

Congrats! Love reading K-Popped. It has become my daily-must-visit blog.

Rooster said...

Wow! So many well wishes! What a great way to kick off the weekend. :D

Thanks ya'll for helping us out through the year with your comments and suggestions. Couldn't have done it without ya!

Unknown said...

Hey gals, happy anniversary! Keep up the good work. Two of you have been like sisters to me. So here's to more k-popping! And yeah, kimchi kisses ♥ and all. ;-)

Liz said...

Hi everyone, thank you for the well-wishes. It does feel like we're havin' a virtual partay! ;-)

To friends we have made online, you guys are fantastic. Yeah, like Orchid and Rooster said, thanks for correcting our mistakes and alerting us to breaking news and such. We're really liking the vibe the blog is giving out :-)

A warm "hello" to sasjo and michael, both of whom have known the K-popped! Sisters even before we got K-popped!...and had to endure our K-popped! shenanigans ever since. Muah ha ha ha ha ha...very good.

sasjo, thanks for being our Hallyu Instructor. We are learning well, yes sifu?

yan min said...

CONGRATS! WILL KEEP ON SUPPORTING K-POPPED! <3

btw, the ugly dolls are super cute! :D

Orchid said...

Thanks brother Mike. ;-)

Sasjo...woke up already ah? ;-) Thank you for the guidance.

kimchi kisses ♥ to everyone!

noV said...

happy anniversary & congratulations... keep up the good work... and please write more stuff about Kpop girls... ok? hahah~

Anonymous said...

congratulations on the 1st anniversary! I must say, you guys have done a GREAT job. I've enjoyed reading it for the past half a year.
I hope it'll continue to grow and grow and one day be one of the most prestige korean enews for english readers!

Orchid said...

lynnwei. 안녕하세요! yOU'Ve been reading our blog for 6 months now? Nice to meet you & THANK YOU for the well wishes!:-)

Anonymous said...

hey hey people! congrats for having been k-popped! for 1 year now! i'm telling you...for something that is fully korean,100% made in malaysia, you guys are freaking awesome hehe keep up the good work!

MiShi_Ka said...

anyong!! happy anniversary k-popped!! keep up the great work! I don't know what i'd do without you guys...you've got my support all the way! aja2 fighting!

Unknown said...

happy anniversary k-popped gals! yay!
i wanted to say thank you creating an awesome outlet for korean pop culture! it's so obvious that you gals are truly passionate about k-pop culture and it goes to show that you don't have to be in korea to report this stuff. and also thank you for taking out the time to post so many articles - not just on the pop scene but helpful ones as well, especially the mind your korean series! oh, and the cooking articles as well. i love food!
keep up the great work and i'll be here to support you guys in the years to come! ahh! can't get enough of k-popped!

Anonymous said...

Happy 1st birthday! I love your blog and I want more and more k-pop! Congratulations!!!!!

Silvia
From Barcelona, Spain

Anonymous said...

I just recently discovered your site and love it! I'm pretty new to being K-popped too! Ever since I went to Korea, I have been hooked!

Thanks for doing such a great job!

Melissa
St. Louis, MO

Anonymous said...

Happy 1st Anniversary, K-popped! I check in almost every day. You all do a great job! Love the blog. :)

Anonymous said...

K-popped I just wanted to wish you HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!! Yey! ~^^

Hope your blog last years! I visit k-popped.com at least 2 per day now because you always have something interesting for me to read, a lot of variety. I really loved K-popped around the world and k-popped! in Beijing. Had a blast commenting on Bad Love Ratings, Rants and Behind The Scenes.

Great work girls Congrats!! )^_^(

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on 1st anniversary. What a year had been. Although K-pop event in Malaysia not big and you also had missed 1 or 2 event to mention but nvm.

 

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