Oh!! Mino-sshi (Lee Min Ho Special)

As I can remember, the last time I fangirled like a real stalker was more than 10 years ago.ehe. I'm sure you do know that the late 1990s was the good old days of Backstreet Boys and like most girls (of my age.ehe), I was one of their die hard fans. And I never thought fangirling becomes my thingy again after few years have passed.

the first time I noticed him.ehe
(it reminds me of my friend who knew exactly when she fell for Cristiano Ronaldo.ehe)

I noticed Lee Min Ho (born on June 22, 1987) for the first time before 'Goo Joon Pyo fever' in a famous Korean variety show called The Star Golden Bell Challenge last year. At a glance, he stood out among the participants (handsome maa...ehe) and I thought he's not a pure korean (like Dennis Oh & Daniel Henney). Few months after that, news on the production of korean version Hana Yori Dango (a popular japanese manga) called Kgotboda Namja aka Boys Over Flowers spread widely even before October (the casts were confirmed in October 08) and of course as a K-drama fan, I knew about it earlier. After the end of the low rated Worlds Within (starred by Song Hye Kyo and Hyun Bin), Boys Over Flowers started airing.

with fellow F4

Eventhough the drama was highly anticipated in Korea, I didn't plan to watch it at the first place (because I can be very determined when it comes to K-Drama + I was very busy with heavy workloads last semester) but later I ACCIDENTALLY watched it.ehe. One episode to another and it became my sudden obsession to the extent that I HAD to watch it online every Wednesdays on viikii.net (it aired every Mondays and Tuesdays, but the English subtitles only came out on Wednesdays. And due to that, I had to finish all my workloads earlier in the daytime so that I could watch it peacefully. Well, I guess it's a good thing though.ehe). Since then, Wednesdays became what I called as my K-Day.ehe. Thanks to the super hit drama, I fell for the talented hottie mcDreamy Mino.ehe (Mino is his nickname). The character of a rowdy and eccentric *chaebol* Goo Joon Pyo dominated Korea (I'm talking about South Korea) and it becomes a phenomenon until today. Lee Min Ho's popularity is rising endlessly since Boys Over Flowers. During the early of the show, media referred him as an overnight star but they are wrong. This is because it wasn't his debut (he debuted in The Secretive Campus; he also starred in tv dramas Run Mackerel, I Am a Teacher, Though I Don't Know Either, movies Our School ET and Public Enemy Return but he wasn't popular as he is now. His outstanding acting and I'd say crazy and breathless drama shooting were paid off when he won the Best New Actor in Baeksang Award (most casts and crews lost 6-8 kgs included Mino and he only slept maximum of 2 hours during the fiming). The viewing rates were consistently high and it ended successfully. After BOF, Mino keeps busy like a bee, until today. His schedule is out in the open that he has no personal time until this June (it's a known fact to his fans that he will be receiving a surgery in June to remove the metal rods implanted on his knee and right leg due to a car accident with his best friend, actor Jung II Woo (who starred in Iljimae Return) in 2006 and there will be the first international fan meeting in Seoul to celebrate his 23rd birthday (he's 22 but in Korean/lunar age he's 23).

with his BFF, Jung II Woo, another korean pretty boy

He is obviously a hot commodity in Korea and whatever he touches will turn into gold. He is now a product model of many brands eg Levi Straus Signature, Trugen, Cadillac CTS, Etude House, Dunkin Donut, Market O, Cass Beer, LG Telecom Teennring, Pepsi Nex, Samsung Anycall Haptic etc.

the same face for different products

And like other A-list celebrities, he can't escape from rumours and anti-comments. Some of them are really absurd. It's a good thing that many praised him for his acting, ability to grasp the character of Goo Joon Pyo effectively and his unquestionably popularity but some of them are too harsh and inhumane that I think no one can endure with those groundless speculations. The frankness that Mino has was misused by certain people for their own interests and I think it's not fair for him. Is it wrong for a young man who has all it takes to be the Perfect Man? No, it's not. It's what we call as gifted. But, it's a reality when someone is loved, he or she can also be loathed. In this world, the Hollywood, Bollywood and now Hallyu (korean wave) stars' privacy are at stake and media seems to ignore the fact that they are still human (no wonder many korean stars committed suicide). In the Vogue Girl interview, he was asked about it.

He answered,

"It's not burdening me much but sometimes I am surprised. My trivial routine is exposed and they are on the news. That bothers me. It makes me feel the human Lee Min Ho has disappeared".

Despite of his passion in acting, he is also a student in Seoul's Konkuk University in cinema major but due to his hectic schedules, he's on a study leave. In an interview, he said that he misses studying (i miss studying too...haha) and he hopes he can continue his studies asap (100% true that education is very important)

The latest updates on him:

He is replacing Kim Bum as a new worker in Anycall. *kiopta*.ehe

Haptic Mission Season 2 has begun with more fun than Season 1 because Mino is in! (he is known as a bubbly person). Anycall is a telecommunication company in Korea and I really love its idea in bringing their product models to work in the company. Their working experiences were recorded and I can't deny that it's fun to watch them working under the same roof and the fact that they tend to work awkwardly, makes it a must-see vid!ehe (you can watch the full episodes on youtube.just type Haptic Mission). You can watch Hyun Joong (the leader of ss501) making a coffee errand for his co-workers, Kim Joon (T-Max member) photocopying books, Son Dambi (a singer) collecting money from her co-workers for staff's birthday party and Lee Min Ho (Mr. Popular) going from one shop to another choosing clothes by himself to be used for a Haptic Mission.

ANYCALL's star workers are
Kim Hyun Joong, Son Dambi (what a lucky girl.huhu), Lee Min Ho and Kim Joon

This is an intro vid of Mino as a new worker in Anycall plus Haptic Mission Season 2
(I posted an intro vid of Haptic Mission Season 1 earlier). One of their missions in Season 2 is to arrange a photoshoot introducing their products. The mission divided into two groups, Hyun Joong and Dambi, and Mino and Kim Joon.

Hyun Joong & Dambi vs Min Ho & Kim Joon

Working hard on their project

Among photos produced by Mino-Joon team

Mino is recently on cover of two famous magazines in Korea namely The Singles and Vogue Girl. All photos in the former were taken in Australia and the latter in London. Below are only few of them.

credit to www.thesingle.co.kr

credit to voguegirl.com

F4 Special Edition album has been released (for the record: besides this album, there are two soundtrack albums for Boys Over Flowers instead of one due to the high demand by the fans). There are songs by T-Max (Kim Joon), ss501 (Kim Hyun Joong), Kim Bum and one ballad song sung by Lee Min Ho titled My Everything in F4 Special Edition.

Kgotboda Namja has been introduced to Japan (the hometown of the manga) in April. I'm not sure whether it's well received there or not (because they have their own version-Hana Yori Dango) but I'm sure they won't resist the korean F4.ehe.

F4 in black and white in Japan

LEE MIN HO! fighting!!!

::click on the pics for larger view::