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 Welcome to the thirteenth edition of Soshified Spotlight. It’s been one full year since we first debuted last March with nrgeticinsanity and Diem-vy, and up to now we’ve profiled 24 people from all different parts of Soshified. Before we add two more to that list, let’s take a second to review something important, shall we? Just like every other month, we’re once again highlighting a regular member in Part 1, and a Soshified staff member in Part 2. This month, we’re featuring parkseonyang in Part 1, and Akino_Makoto in Part 2. parkseonyang, or Brendan, loves not only Girls’ Generation, but actually all things Korean. Although he is extremely busy at the moment with pursuing a law degree, he still has time to follow his favorite group of girls, and actually took part in the Soshified Field Trip that went to South Korea last summer. ***** What is your first name?
Brendan (It's actually a commonly misspelled name for some reason :|) How did you find out about Soshified and why did you decide to join?
I can only vaguely recall hearing about such a forum and deciding to join, mainly to post comments on the articles and watch videos. Actually it's kinda like your birth, I don't think we recall exactly how we came out into this (new) world. Okay weird analogy! How did you come up with your screen name?
I don't know If I should be partially abashed as to how I came up with the last name, but "Seonyang" is somewhat the Korean version of my Mandarin name "Hsien Yang" – pronounced with a silent 'H'. As for "Park"… I was an avid supporter of Manchester United F.C. and Park JiSung was one of my favourite players in the squad (of course the fact that him being Korean mattered as well ) Where are you originally from, and where do you currently reside (city and country for both)?
I'm from the sunny island of Singapore – it's both a country, and a city-state all packed in a tiny land area of 710sq Km. Still residing here, although I really wish to live in Korea at least for the short-term if the opportunity I'm looking for arises. If we were visiting you where you live for one day, where would you take us? Why are these places so significant?
Hmm… Singapore's a relatively urbanized country with not much natural sight-seeing to do, nonetheless, I must say we've got a good variety of food and signature dishes. Taeyeon once mentioned during the tour in Singapore about trying Chili Crabs, one dish I'll definitely recommend, though a little pricey.
As for places, you'll be welcome to visit my apartment (it's only a flat)… just kidding!
But really, for food, perhaps I might recommend a place called Newton Circus Hawker Centre. For sights, I'd recommend the Marina Bay Sands. The sky park offers a fantastic panorama view of the entire city centre, go Google it out if you haven't heard of it! I believe the 9 girls stayed over at that hotel during their visit for the 2011 MAMA event. If you prefer something more on the fun side, there's Sentosa Island, situated at the southern tip of the country where the Universal Studios theme-park is located.  Marina Bay Sands What kind of food is Newton Circus Hawker Centre famous for, and why is it so good?
Newton is famous for its variety of grilled/barbequed seafood, however, I must warn that it can be a little pricey, alternatively, it's got really good fried oyster-omelette and fried prawn noodles. I guess the difference lies in the smell and taste, I'm not really a culinary person so I'm not sure what's the right term, but the flavour of these dishes has more 'depth' than many other places. In general, I think that place has a good representative collection of Singapore Hawker cuisine. Tell us a little about your life. What do you do full time and in your free time?
I'm a full time student pursuing a law degree at the Singapore Management University. During school term, it's mostly grinding the textbooks and endless amount of cases and law articles to read each week. I practically have little free time unless it's during my holidays. Having said that, I'm actually feeling guilty doing anything else besides doing what I'm supposed to do, such as writing this (but I'm still more than pleased to contribute!). During the holidays, I genuinely have free time, I enjoy indulging in Korean variety programs, dramas, cycling, meeting up with small groups of friends… and brushing up on whatever Korean language abilities I have! What's the most interesting thing about you and/or that has ever happened to you?
Being a part of the Soshified field trip July 2011! If I were to allow myself to go into every detail, it might take… 9 years? Kidding haha! Okay, but I really treasured meeting other Sones and the really really memorable times we had, it's quite indescribable the joy during those 10 or so days – because some of us extended our stay for a little while. On top of watching Girls' Generation's return to Korea, kick-starting their 2nd Asia Tour, our group had a spontaneous meet and greet with 2PM and T-ara as well during MBC Music Core that Saturday. I remember we were all gushing over how we appeared on Korean TV those few days, with the media following us all over. What was really serendipitous during the trip was, after our return to Seoul from Jeonju (we visited Tae's parents) we were stuck in the hotel unable to travel to our next hostel due to the terrible rain. Someone in the lobby spotted Kim Jong Kook, so I swiftly approached him and asked if we could take a photo individually, which he kindly obliged! It was really nice of him considering that there were at least 10 of us. The trip was a blast so much so that when all of us returned to our home countries, we were left with severe withdrawal symptoms for weeks. Don't know if you'd consider that a good or bad thing. Never had I have so much inertia re-adjusting to "reality".  Part of the group who went on the Soshified Field Trip last summer. What was Kim Jong Kook doing in your hotel?
I don't think any of us who were there had any clear idea what he was doing in our hotel… But our hotel was located at Sinsa-dong in Gangnam, we could only speculate that perhaps he stayed over after filming running man. It was a wet Tuesday evening then. Tell us about what happened when you went to visit Taeyeon’s parents. Was it similar to other fan accounts out there by people who also visited them?
I won't really be able to compare with some details of other fan accounts since I haven't read most of them, but they were really nice and accommodating despite us being quite a big group of visitors. I think most of us who visited, made spectacles or sunglasses which were completed in an hour or so. While I was there, I hadn't felt a need to make a new pair of glasses but when I returned, my mum was saying how I should have since it'll be a special pair… I had totally not expected that coming from her since she was really thrifty.
Other than that, I still remembered how Taeyeon's mum served us orange juice and made us tall glasses of ice coffee, which was frothy and refreshing for a summer day.
Just as we were about to say our goodbyes and well wishes, we managed to get a group photo taken with her mum and dad! (No photos will be posted!) For people who are first meeting you (like most of us), how would you describe yourself?
Ah. I usually hear people saying how serious and quiet I appear (which I agree..) But I do take a while to warm up, and especially once we have things in common, I open up much more easily! I might be one of those who prefer quality time with a small group of friends as compared to a large group. Tell us some things that most people don't know about you that you think they should.
Perhaps I'll share one of my pet peeves. It really irks me when people who don't know a language try to mimic the way it sounds. It not only come off as immature but also disrespectful to the people speaking that particular language. Examples of such experience I have, are when people discover that I've learnt some Korean or love singing Korean songs at the noraebang, and they'll go "Yo Yo Yo" – Ironic how that's supposed to be a polite ending of sentences in Korean that they're messing with… >: ( Is there anything big in your life that you're working on? (This can be related to school, career, hobbies, family, friends, etc.)
I'm planning my secret escape back to Korea. Muahahaha! Okay, I'm not kidding, at least technically speaking. I'm hoping to do sufficiently well so that my grades would allow me a chance to do an exchange program to Korea. Although practically, most if not all law students I know go over to the US or UK for exchange programs due to relevancy issues. But wouldn't it be interesting to know more about the Korean legal system? What are your interests outside of Girls' Generation?
Hmm… I'm not exactly an outdoor person. However, I enjoy drawing and sketching during my spare time, with themes more specifically from works of Marvel Comic superheroes. Some geeky stuff might include being able to solve the rubik's cube in about 25 seconds (my best record). I do solve cubes of up to 5×5 as well, but I haven't had time to fiddle with it these days. Other than that, much of my interest revolves around the Korean culture, which began almost 5 years ago, even before I discovered Girls' Generation. I picked up Korean classes in 2009 but I've been taking a long break since 2010, hence my rusty Korean skills… How did you first become a fan of Girls' Generation?
YOUTUBE! (You know how we click links after links and we can't stop) Maybe partially from some of my colleagues during National Service in 2009 as well. I got into them after Gee, just when they began promoting Genie. If I remembered correctly, Girls' Generation was probably one of the first few "idol groups" I discovered. Prior to my discovery of the Girls, I was mostly listening to other Korean bands or singers; such as Loveholic, Lee Hyori, SS501. Although I never subscribed to the idea of massive size of bands, there was something special about them, which was so alluring. It was most likely their innocent and dorky charms that they displayed during shows Horror Movie Factory and Girls Go to School. Many other idol groups are as visually attractive but there was just something more. Never did I expect them to be where they are today! The other earlier songs, which got me hooked were the likes of ITNW and Girls' Generation. They were full of freshness and it was just aural bliss listening to them. How popular is Girls’ Generation in the National Service?
Relatively popular, it seems that every unit I knew, or batch of trainees that came in where I was at, there would be at least a couple of guys who were fans of them, and maybe more who have at least heard of them. I've even seen fans spreading the 'infection' during my 2-year stint, to their fellow mates and I'd like to think that I was one of them Who is your favorite member and why?
YOONA! She, along with Yuri were the first members I noticed. All 9 girls are beautiful in their own way. But I must say Yoong really reminded me of someone I knew, maybe that was the connection. The similarities in personality (at least on-screen personality). She appears to be someone who plays it coy with guys around her as well as other strangers, but you'll know how she unleashes her inner choding and cracking jokes with her closes unnies. What is your favorite Girls' Generation song and MV and why?
Tough question, but for my favourite GG song, it's gotta be Genie. I didn't actually like it the first time I heard it, but like all their other hits, it just grows and I really love the powerful feel to the song, my favourite part has to be Taeyeon's ad libs after Fany's trademark "put it back on". Also, it was one of the first songs from them which I listened to.
My favourite MV: yet another tough pick… but I'd say Oh! I liked the concept of Oh! more than I liked the song itself. The MV was cutesy on one of the highest levels, full of brightness but ends with a dark twist, which I liked how it led to their follow-up song RDR. The overall use of props and sets really felt like there was at least some semblance of telling a story about pronouncing their love for an oppa (depicted as a football player?). What is your favorite Girls' Generation moment and why?
If I had to pick one moment, it'll be that night watching GDA 2010, where they won Disk Daesung of Oh!. Though I was thousands of miles away sitting in front of my monitor streaming the show, I was swelling with pride. In fact I think I teared a little, knowing how hard the girls have worked (as they always do). Also, their Oh! album was the very first Soshi merchandise I bought, which felt as if I made a contribution to their success although small. How has Girls’ Generation impacted your life, in specific areas or even as a whole?
By charting my bank account transactions, it'd look something like a seismograph displaying a 9.0 magnitude earthquake… Finances aside, they've become much like my staple food, something I need a dose of on a regular basis. I hope that doesn't sound too unhealthy, but with all staple food, we've got side dishes too! By side dishes I mean other k-pop acts that I follow, such as T-ara, Suju, DBSK just to name a few… they add flavour and variety to this "cuisine" in my life. I'm quite a shikshin to some extent; I really enjoy buffets although I admit being stick thin. Yeah the illustration with food! What do you like most about Soshified, and why? Any section in particular you’re attracted to?
I really love how organised Soshified is. Needless to say, it offers so much to Sones and I'm somewhat proud to see it grow over the years. I must say that I'm really impressed with how the stylist department 'researches' the clothing and accessories so quickly. The section(s) I'm particularly attracted to would be "Yoong a day", it keeps the stress away. I'm also a frequent lurker of the "show your soshi collection" thread. Seeing people purchase goods instead of merely downloading brings comfort to know that CDs still carry value, although it's attributed to the overall packaging as well. Is there anything else about you that you would like to add?
Yes, I'd really love to thank Soshified for having granted me this wonderful opportunity to share with others this love for Girls' Generation and a little about myself!
Lastly, since this is the month of March, I'd like to wish our beloved kid Leader and all fellow Soshified members whose birthday's in March a very happy birthday! ***** Huge thanks goes out to Brendan for participating in Soshified Spotlight this month. As usual, you can submit nominations for future Soshified Spotlights if you’d like to participate or if you’d like to get to know a fellow member better. Instructions on how to do so can be viewed at the Soshified Spotlight Solicitation announcement. You can also read past Soshified Spotlights by clicking on the “Soshified Spotlight” tag below. Remember to stay tuned for Part 2 featuring Akino_Makoto. Compiled by: residentbenchwarmer@soshified
Images courtesy of: parkseonyang@soshified
Graphic by: cioco@soshified Have a news item that you think Soshified should know about? Leave us a tip or e-mail us at tip@soshified.com.
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