turning chinese... or taiwanese

I was never a fan of "Chinovelas" before. Never a fan of "Koreanovela" as well. There are only a few shows that I watched because the storyline is different. I admit, I only watched "Meteor Garden" just for the hype of it, but aside from that, I never appreciated other Taiwanese Series being shown on TV. I got to watch "Endless love 1: Autumn in my Heart" and "Winter Sonata" because of the tragic storyline (I've mentioned before I'm a sucker for tragic love stories). I'd rather watch "Autumn in My Heart" a dozen times rather than watch those mushy-mushy teleseryes being shown.

Some of the Taiwanese/Korean Series that I watched and really appreciated are:

• Frog turned into prince - simply because the story's heartwarming
• At the dolphin bay - just because Wallace Huo was sooo cute
• Autumn in my heart - it was soooo tragic, I watch it everytime GMA replays it
• Winter Sonata - I love the storyline, plus Choi Ji Woo and Bae Yong Joon.. hehehe
• Sweet 18 - I realize Lee Dong Gun is cuter when he's on GMA than on ABSCBN
• Save the last dance for me - again, the storyline is unique
• Full House - can't believe Song Hye Kyo could be funny
• The poor prince - Vic Zhou could be seriously funny, no pun intended.

There are some series that I would like to watch, but I never got the chance to like

• It started with a kiss
• I'm sorry I love you
• House husband
• Love contract
• My name is Kim Sam Soon

See, I only appreciate a few Asian series that was shown ever since the Asianovela fame started way back in 2003. There might've been a gazillion of it being shown since the "Meteor Garden" days, but I didn't try to watch it. Maybe I did, but it was because I'm waiting for the next show or I was waiting for the news.

Then, that fateful day happened.

I was channel surfing, and I got into this Chinese channel. A good looking guy and a cute little boy were playing around. Well, the cute little boy was dressed ike a cheerleader, while the good looking guy was jumping. I have seen the commercial of this series before, but since I can't understand Chinese, I was not sure at which time it's going to be shown. Good thing I always check that channel, and I was able to watch the series until it's end. Too bad, I was not able to watch it... but goog thing there's crunchyroll and youtube. I realized that the cute little boy in th series as a girl in real life, and she sings well. The good looking guy is part of a Taiwanese Boy Band. Their name - Ella Chen and Wu Zun. What's the title of the series that got me hooked on Asian Series: It's "Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu" also known as "Hanazakari no Kimitachie" also known as "Hana Kimi" also known as "For you in full blossoms". Since the day I watched that series, I finally appreciated Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean Series.

Yup. My friends, Blame "Hana Kimi" for turning this cute little girl into a sucker of Asian Idol dramas. Blame this series for making me listen to Taiwanese Pop Songs that I could not even understand. Blame Ella Chen for getting me hooked on their band, Wu Zun's band (Fahrenheit) and for making me download T-Pop songs. Blame Wu Zun for making me idolize him, and for the sleepless nights he have caused me. Blame them for making me take up Japanese (OK. Now you're confused as to why I'm taking up Japanese instead of Chinese. It just so happens that Kanji is similar to Chinese symbols. That's why. And besides, I'll be taking up Chinese soon, if only I can figure out if I should take Mandarin or Cantonese...).

It seems that I know more about the Taiwanese Entertainment circle. I really don't care about Hollywood people, or our local artists. As long as I can hear news about SHE or Fahrenheit, or about Danson Tang or Ming Dao or Joe Chen... my day's complete. Sometimes, I would rather tune in to CTS, TTV, CTV, CTI and SETTV than tune in to the local channels. Of course, I can't understand what they're saying. There are even times wherein I talked Chinese in my dreams.

Guess this is my addiction now.