Infinite H: Fly Again Mini Album Review

After two years, I'm so happy that Infinite H has officially come back! Infinite H was the second Infinite subunit/solo/project group to debut, yet they're the first to have a comeback. Infinite H began promotions in late January and have currently won 1st place on music shows 5 times! This is the first time for an Infinite subunit/solo/project group to win, let alone 5 times (that's more than Be Mine, Paradise, and Destiny's wins!). They even placed 10th on Music Core's highest scores ever.

I pre-ordered my album from Kpoptown.com and my package arrived in 9 days, wrapped several times in bubble wrap and placed inside their orange waterproof envelope with a bubble wrap liner. They also provided me with a pre-order gift, a set of Infinite monthly calendar photocards.

This album is Infinite H's second mini album, titled "Fly Again" as a sequel to their first mini album, "Fly High," from January 2013. This album shows the duo's growth as talented artists as they've collaborated on creating all the tracks. The album itself is very beautiful, with little details to add more charm. The lettering is reflective, as well as some of the tiny triangles in the background. The dimensions are the same as Infinite's other Korean albums.

The backside is just as elegant, with a shiny H and more silvery triangles. The white design on the H is painted on top of the H, showing more elegance to the design. The front and back covers have a thick paper texture.

The album format is very similar to "Fly High"; it is actually most similar to Lovelyz' first album, but for Inspirits' reference, "Fly High" will probably be best. The two contents slip out from the left, which are the photobook on the top and the CD case on the bottom.

The color schemes are simplistic and elegant with metallic gold on the spine of the photobook and silver for the case with metallic lettering.

The CD case has a nice cover, with the font and parts of their outfits having that reflective coat. The backside is matte silver with the beautiful H logo and includes the tracklist.

Here is a closeup of the tracklist. Infinite H worked with the company Brand New Music for this album, and Hoya and Dongwoo co-wrote the lyrics along with others and solely wrote the rap for all the tracks (excluding the intro). As a sequel to Infinite's first album, this album shows so much growth within the two as they participated a lot in creating these tracks and making them sound like their own unique sound. "Fly High" seemed more like a cross-over between pop and hip-hop, but this album sounds more like hip-hop and rap, which seems more like what the two are wanting to go toward. There are many artists featured (many from Brand New Music, one from Infinite's sister group Lovelyz), but I'm happy that their title track, "예뻐 (Pretty)," is only performed by Dongwoo and Hoya to really showcase their growth as rappers and singers. Also (thanks to my friend for this~) Dongwoo originally performed "부딪쳐" as during his solo stage at Infinite's That Summer Concert 2, but featuring Jin of Lovelyz instead of Sujeong.

Inside the case is the folded poster. I like how even the back of the poster has the album logo.

The poster feels like regular loose-leaf paper, so it seems hard to directly tape it on your wall without damaging it. I was hoping it'd be of thick and nice quality like the Paradise poster that was included in that album. This poster is cute though, with nine images of Infinite H goofing off and posing in front of the camera. Some of these photos are the same as in the photobook, but a few are different. The poster is about 1' 8.5" by 1' 2.5".

The inside design of the case is simple, with the matte silver background and enlarged glittery H on the CD.

The photobook covers are similar to the CD case covers, with another fierce image of Infinite H but with matte gold lettering on the front and the matte gold background and white H on the back.

The photobook has 42 pages and dedicates an entire page to each of the song's lyrics; I like this format rather than cramming all the song lyrics into two pages total, because this really showcases the lyrics and the work that Infinite H put into writing these songs. The photobook includes group and solo images with the same outfits as the photocards (read below to know what I'm referring to), as well as the one with Hoya wearing that black hat and top and Dongwoo wearing white from the music video. I also noticed at the bottom corner it says "Infinite H" and directly underneath it says "Hoya & Dong Woo" or "Dong Woo & Hoya" depending on who's on that page.

My favorite section is the last half of the photobook, which is more like behind-the-scenes and mostly in black and white, giving a nice touch. The top left photo is the one similar to the included poster. The bottom right photo is a beautiful photo of the two and wraps up the album nicely with album credits and the members' "thanks to" section.

The first page of the photobook holds the photocards.

The albums comes with two random photocards, and there are a total of six, all with the holographic background. The backsides of all the photocards have the triangle design but a different font image and color. There are at least four different designs for the backside, so I'm not which photocard each backside design is for. Both my photocards have the same backside design, but one is silver and the other is gold. One photocard is of a black and white photo of each member in their court outfits from the music video. Another photocard is of the each member wearing the outfits from the front cover of their photobook, and the last photocard is of each member wearing the outfits from front cover of the CD case. The photocard images are different from the photobook and posters.

Besides the included poster, this poster also has three exterior posters, one of each member and one group one. Two two individual posters are from the photobook and the group image is the same as the front cover of the CD case.

Overall, I really love this album; the packaging is nice as it includes many elements and the design is very elegant. The songs are also very catchy and though I am not one to listen to hip-hop or rap, Infinite H has opened me to this genre, for which I am grateful. Though it took them two years for the duo to come back, I hope their next album will come much quicker.

"Somewhere Only We Know" Movie Review

Leaving Exo behind, Kris has gone on and done great things, one of them being the main actor of the Chinese movie, "Somewhere Only We Know." This movie was released a week or so early in China, but luckily has also been released in main cities around the US on February 13th, 2015. I'm so happy that this movie is being shown in downtown Seattle as well! Nothing is more amazing than seeing an Asian movie starring an idol in your own, non-Asian country.

"Somewhere Only We Know" is currently playing at Regal Meridian 16 in downtown Seattle from (technically) Thursday night, February 12th to Thursday, February 19th, with four showings a day and is an hour and 49 minutes long, Here is the poster for it! Though Kris is the main image on the poster, his character really wasn't overly dominating and all the main characters had lots of screen time.

This movie is a mix of romance and drama that pulls at your heartstrings (or at least for those easily emotional and sensitive like me, you'll get teary-eyed) and is like every school girl's fantasy while studying abroad. Let me clear things up by giving the summary: There are two to three stories intertwined together, but the main story is about a woman in her late 20s who studies abroad in Prague for the summer. She meets a man, Kris, who lives in Prague and they develop a relationship (this is the fantasy part I was talking about^^) though of course there are complications with them being together (like a typical Korean drama). The parallel story is the woman's only family she's known is her grandmother, who recently passed away and was always single, until the woman (I'm sorry I forgot her name) learns of her grandmother's love in Prague. The woman then decides to search about her grandmother's past in Prague. All that isn't as important as this third story, which includes long flashbacks of the grandmother's time in Prague with the man she fell in love with there.

The first part of the movie is more about the woman's new life abroad and developing the love story between her and Kris. This part really felt like a typical but well-done Korean romantic drama that tugs at your heartstrings. Then it focuses more on her finding more about her grandmother's past and even more on the flashbacks to her grandmother's story. All of this is the deep part that sets this movie apart from typical romantic comedies. It goes back and forth between the two time periods, but it transitions well and all the stories flow well together. Overall, I absolutely love this movie because it really gave me a rush of emotions and it's just one of those movies I can't shut up about because it's the only thing on my mind. The movie was really well done, and I always thought Asian productions have a hard time filming in a western country and then everyone's speaking a certain Asian language like that's everyone's native language, but this movie does it well where they do have Mandarin, English, and Czech where it needs to be. One last note that no one cares about, they also had the "Gwiyomi Song" and Kris sang "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" by Franki Valli, my most favorite American singer; this movie basically brought together everything I love in one. Now, I cannot get over Kris and I can't wait to see his upcoming productions, and I hope they'll be just as big and will be released in the US!

Lovelyz: Girls' Invasion First Album Review

Woollim finally debuted their much anticipated first girl group in November 2014: Lovelyz! Though many used to refer Woollim's girl trainees as the Woollim Girls who have made a few appearances before their debut (such as Infinite's dance partners during their "Man in Love" performance at the 2013 KBS Gayo Daejun and Mijoo as the lead in Infinite's "Last Romeo" music video), and a few even debuted as solo artists with singles released from 2011 to 2013. Their album title Girls' Invasion is quite fitting, since this is Woollim's first girl group where Infinite, Nell and Tasty dominate. As an Inspirit and therefore Woollim fan, I think I'm going to subsequently like Lovelyz (though not nearly as much as for Infinite) as well. I also will refer to some things with Infinite in mind.

I bought my album in Burnaby, Canada at KR Multimedia for $22CAD and buying this album included 10% off any poster, but I decided not to buy one. This album does come with two poster types, one being a group photo in a classroom setting while another being a grid format that are similar to school photos. I usually don't like grid posters and prefer group photos in a unique setting, but for some reason it was the opposite with these posters; the grid one is really cool because it does look like the members' school photos.

The album is the same size as most of Infinite's albums, and looks elegant in its simplicity. The front is matte white with a sparkly red fancy Lovelyz logo. This is all very reminiscent of Infinite's debut album...a simple white album with a sparkly red logo and "Invasion" in the title.

The back cover is just as simple, with a simpler logo. Both sides also have the wording in the sparkly red.

The format of this album is very similar to that of Infinite H's Fly High. Inside is the photobook on the bottom and case for the disc and photocards on the top.

The case looks similar to the album cover, with its reflective logo.

The backside includes the tracklist. The first five tracks are new Lovelyz songs while the remaining four are the pre-released singles when some of the members debuted as solo artists before. Though I thought the title was weird at first, I really do love their title track, "Candy Jelly Love," since it's just so catchy and fun; it did its job well as a hook song to grab my attention. I just wish the members would have better line distribution. Also their secondary title song, "Good Night Like Yesterday," is a beautiful ballad that also has Sunggyu in the music video, reminiscent of his vampire days. Also for the 5th track, "Getaway," honestly is a song I don't like (and I thought being Woollim biased would never have me dislike a Woollim song), but it's just kind of creepy with the "my lies" chants. And my last thought, the 7th track (that features Dongwoo!), after my friend told me, originally it was sang by Babysoul and then Woollim trainee Yoo Jia, but she left and now it's Babysoul and Kei.

Inside the case is like a folder to hold the photocards; it's like a school folder, perfect for their innocent schoolgirl concept. Because there's this folder especially for the photocards, I feel like they belong here rather than in my photocard binder...an empty folder flap would feel weird. The disc is attached by a plastic pentagon holder. I really like this CD holder design, because the CD is sturdy here yet it's still easy to take out the CD.

Underneath the disc has a pretty design as well.

The album comes with two gorgeous photocards. The photocards are really of postcard size and quality, which is no surprise with Woollim creating larger and larger photocards. They're matte photocards with the name of the member at the bottom left. I got Sujeong's and Yein's. There's one photocard per member, for a total of eight.

The backside of the photocard is simple. On my Yein one, there were subtle print marks with a thick horizontal line and "Woollim" repeating on the top left...I guess the photocard was placed on top of other freshly printed parts of the album?

The photobook is very thick, with 54 pages. The cover is the same as the poster design. The logo both on the front and back covers have that gorgeous reflective tint.

The photos overall remind me of L's Bravo Viewtiful: some artsy photos or random objects or of different angles, some behind-the-scenes photos from the photoshoot, and then some typical photos of the members. There are only a few pages with the girls' names, but other than that there aren't any profiles of them. Looking at the photobook, I'm pointing out who's who and trying to put a name to a face...this is just like me starting out with Infinite~ Ahh, good times.

The last few pages are for the lyrics, thanks to, and credits. For the song that features Dongwoo, I'm so happy to see that Dongwoo wrote the rap for it!

Infinite: Be Mine Single (Type A - Solid Version) Review

Infinite released the Japanese single to "Be Mine" back in April 2012, and I gave an overview of the albums in my review of Type C, the Innocent Version here. I also blogged about Type B - Pop Art Version here. I really don't want to repeat everything about these albums again, so you can either check out my previous post or also feel free to ask me questions^^ All four versions of this single are a lot more expensive now, but I managed to buy Type A, the Solid Version and the only version that comes with a DVD, for $35 new from samurai_media_JPN4US, a Japanese independent seller on Amazon.com. It took exactly two weeks to arrive since I ordered it, and it came well packaged in a padded paper envelope twice the album's size and then in another bubble wrap envelope.

As you can see, the Solid Version is the rocker image. It's definitely so different from the Pop Art and Innocent versions. The album is about the same dimensions as most of Infinite's other albums, except this version is just a bit thicker than the Pop Art and Innocent versions because this also comes with the DVD.

The seller stupidly put their own stickers on top of the album sticker, which covered up precious information! Luckily I was able to remove the more obnoxious sticker. And of course L's postcard is used as the back cover^^

Here is the back sticker, which shows all seven member postcards, the group postcard, and all seven random member postcards. Also included is information about the DVD, like it's 60 minutes long (!) and that it's for Region 2.

I never noticed it, but on the side of the album, there's the album info and version specification as well. I always put that side face down, but maybe that's supposed to be the side that you display.

Because of the way this album is packaged, I used an X-Acto knife to slice down the side with the opening in order to preserve the stickers. From the backside, the contents are the postcards (the individual members starting with L and then oldest to youngest, the group card, then the random member card), the booklet, and the CD and DVD case.

Here are all nine postcards in the order they came (left to right, top to bottom), and as you can see I got Hoya's random card. Also, this group card is a different image than the cover. These cards are a bit hard to put back into the casing and the edges easily get damaged sadly.

The front is matte while the back is a glossy gray.

The booklet has a rustic front cover and all the credits and other information on the back cover.

The first page includes a group photo and both disc's tracklists.

The booklet is 10 pages long and has a page for each member that includes their profile information and a page for each of the song lyrics. I was never drawn to this rock concept especially with their hair so messy and unnatural, but then I turned and saw L's page and just died! It is worth it just for this picture. (I keep saying L because this is really...L, not Myungsoo!)

This is the case for the CD and DVD.

The backside of the case has the song tracklist.

This case is really nice; the Infinite logo and splash of paint are not printed on the box, but it's like 3D and has a plastic coating over it. The Innocent Version just has everything printed onto the case.

Inside the case are two sheets of paper. The first sheet contains all four versions of this album, including all of the possible postcards. The backside has Infinite's Japanese discography and DVD list.

Another sheet I believe is for a promotion event in Japan.

Inside the case lists the tracklists for both discs. I'm surprised at how much content is on the DVD; included are the three versions of the "Be Mine" music video (Japanese, Korean, and Korean dance), and Infinite Japan Story, which is a feature about Infinite promoting BTD in Japan! I'm happy to see such a long special feature on one of Infinite's album DVDs. I could only get through part of Day 1 because my DVD player doesn't function well, so sadly I couldn't watch most of the contents. Here's what I'll say: the main menu has the scene selection and the option for Japanese subtitles. Because there are no English subtitles, it's hard not to just go onto YouTube and watch a subbed version instead. The Infinite Japan Story is the behind the scenes and footage from the promotional events for the Japanese version of BTD. It is broken down into days 1 to 7. They mostly spoke in Korean to the camera, though at times they'd practice their Japanese or practice singing BTD, and of course during their events, like a press conference, they spoke (though sometimes cutely stumbling) in Japanese. I loved seeing the members being themselves and having fun.

Overall, just that one photo of L in the booklet is all I need to make the album worth it, but in general the album is worth it. The DVD is really nice and there are so many things that Inspirits reference but I never knew where it's from (ie. during the press conference Myungsoo introduced himself as a vocal of Infinite, and that he likes udon. I didn't actually know this until they dramatized this part in the DVD, so I watched the English subbed version on YouTube and found out lol). I hope someday I'll get the Pop Art version to complete the limited versions of Be Mine.

Note to self: I really hope this is the last time I change my watermark, people will start thinking that none of the images are mine...

Infinite: Dilemma Single (Limited) Review

On December 24th, 2014, Infinite released a completely new song, "Dilemma," as a Japanese single. This song is special because a Japanese guitarist, Tomoyasu Hotei, worked on the song and this is his first song for a Korean artist. There are two versions of this Japanese single, a normal version that comes with a photocard, and a limited version with a DVD; both come with a 16-page photobook from different photoshoots. There are also special music connecting cards, one per each member, that you must buy separately and it comes with an online code to access that member's audio message.

I pre-ordered the limited version from YesAsia for about $27 (CDJapan sold it for about $20 after shipping, but I had to use up my YesAsia credit). It took 16 days to arrive, and was packaged well in two layers of bubble wrap and then inside a waterproof envelope lined with another layer of bubble wrap.

The album cover reminds me of Infinite's Comeback Teaser 2014 here. I didn't think this teaser, released in March, had anything to do with their Last Romeo or Back promotions, but it finally relates to this one.

Here is a close up of the information sticker.

The Infinite logo and album title on the spine and front cover shine beautifully, like their Last Romeo single Type A album.

I personally was not excited about this album cover, I liked the normal version one more. But then I saw this back cover and fell in love with the whole photoshoot! The tracklist is included ("Dilemma" and the Japanese versions of "Back" and "Diamond"). "Dilemma" is definitely a lot more rock, and everything about this song sounds so great. I've been listening to the original version of "Back" on repeat, so it's nice getting a slightly different version of such a beautiful song. The DVD list is also included, with the music video and making. I'm so happy to finally be able to see the official music video, since Woollim never posted one! Also the back cover says that this DVD is for all regions!

This album format is exactly like Infinite's Last Romeo Single Type A, with a sleeve holding the photobook on the left and the two discs on the right. It's the same size as most of Infinite's albums.

The tracklists are also printed on each disc. The CD (left) is so pretty with its shimmering silver, and the DVD is black with the logo reflecting. The CD is practically impossible to take out...I really don't want to put it back because it'll be so difficult to take out the DVD to watch over and over again. The making is a full 20 minutes, with the first 12 minutes 45 seconds being the music video making. It is mostly the "Dilemma" instrumental version playing while focusing on each member during their solo scenes and within their group dance scenes. Each member does their own greetings to the camera except for Sunggyu; this is all done in Korean with Japanese subtitles. The remaining time is for both photoshoots with the instrumental version of "Diamond," which is gorgeous. Dongwoo was so adorable during his individual photoshoot, and 2Woo at the end were so adorable, ending the DVD on a happy note.

If anyone cares, underneath the discs are the Infinite logo and DVD information.

The photobooklet has a simple cover and is actually 14 pages long (I don't count the plain front and back covers).

The entire photoshoot is in black and white, there is one photo per member, two group photos, and three pages for the lyrics.

Inside the photobooklet are two slips of paper. The black one is information for Infinite's promotional events for the album, while the blue sheet is information for Infinite's upcoming Japan Tour in February.

All the credits for this song are from a Japanese team, and the lyrics were originally written in Japanese, not Korean with a Japanese translation, and the tracklist doesn't state this song as the Japanese version. I'm guessing that this is the start of Infinite releasing songs only in Japanese, rather than converting their Korean songs into Japanese. But who knows, maybe "Dilemma" will be on their next Korean album! I really do hope that "Dilemma" will be made into a Korean version so that we'll be able to see the dance more often, but I hope it won't be a title track so that Infinite can release more new hit Korean songs.

Overall, I love this album! The song has been on repeat since I received the album, the photos are gorgeous, and I love having an official copy of the music video.

Returning Damaged Merchandise to YesAsia

I had to deal with my YesAsia package that arrived with my two albums both damaged, which I explained in this post here. While it really is a hassle and it takes awhile for the problem to be resolved (you have to send the package back, 2 weeks, and then wait for your new package to arrive, another 2 weeks), it is well worth the aggravation and wait because damaged merchandise is something that shouldn't be tolerated. Here is my guideline of how to handle returning damaged merchandise to YesAsia.

How to Begin Resolving the Issue
My albums were broken, so I sent an email to the YesAsia customer service saying that I wanted to return my defected items. Their policy is that you can't get your money back, but you can return your package for new items. Instead of waiting for an email reply, I then called the customer service number and explained my situation, and then they told me to send them a detailed email (photos are best) thoroughly explaining the damage. Within about 8 hours, they accepted that my albums were damaged and sent me another email giving me instructions on how to return my broken items. (Actually the first person I spoke with sent me instructions for YesStyle, instead of YesAsia, so I had to call back until I got a smart person on the phone). I was given an identification number that I had to place on my return package. I placed everything (including the fragmented plastic pieces) back into its originally crappy packaging, and then placed that into a secure box and put newspaper padding, and added a note explaining what good, secure packaging looked like (because their email stated to send the items securely...something they should have done in the first place). Then label the package with their address, which is given in the email.

Shipping the Package
The email also states that YesAsia will only reimburse the return shipping if you're using regular airmail, and nothing fancy (ex. registered, courier service). My post office however only offered First Class Registered Mail for international packages, and cost $22.30 for the cheapest option. I didn't want to just throw stamps onto my package and send it off, as the email also wanted a copy of the receipt.

Waiting for YesAsia
Two weeks after sending out my return package, YesAsia emailed me that they received it and that I should reply with my shipping receipt to calculate the reimbursement. I emailed them a picture of my receipt, and within 13 hours they emailed me back saying they'll credit me my full $22.30USD, which will be processed within 3-5 days. In just over two full days, YesAsia sent me an email saying that they credited me back for the full $22.30. Four days after receiving my package, they reshipped my package, hopefully in better condition.

Receiving the Reshipped Package

I finally received my package after 18 days, and the packaging looks better compared to the last time. My albums arrived inside a waterproof envelope lined with a layer of bubble wrap, and then my two albums were placed inside a bubble wrap bag, and then inside another bubble wrap bag. My albums arrived in pristine condition, with no bent corners or anything! I'm so happy that I went through all this trouble and got new albums in perfect condition.

[Update 2] Aberdeen Mall: Tony Moly and a Clothing Store

Just after the new year's I visited Aberdeen Centre in Vancouver, Canada again (original post here and an update here on the mall) and found a couple of really nice surprises! On the second level near the doors to the parking garage, I spotted a Tony Moly! I actually didn't know that they are slowly starting to open branches in North America, and they don't really have a website for their North American locations. I can't believe I found a Tony Moly so close to me now!

This store is very small and similar in layout to many other Korean cosmetic stores. It is a rectangle with displays of products (no endorsers) on the walls and an island in the center with more displays. There were signs on the storefront advertising that this is a grand opening with a special sale from December 25th to January 4th. Inside was very busy and there were workers floating around, handing customers with mini baskets to entice them to buy more. They had so many products on display, but I honestly only spent about a minute in there doing price checks. The products seem to be significantly more expensive than buying them in Korea obviously, but they're comparable to other Korean cosmetic stores in North America, but still more expensive that online. The blueberry lip balm was $9.50CAD, and the red apple, green apple, and tomato were all between $14CAD and $16CAD. It's still so refreshing to see a Tony Moly in Vancouver though, and Aberdeen Mall is finally becoming more like a real Asian mall that reflects those stores in Asia.

And also towards one end of the mall on the second floor near the food court is a clothing store, Kokko, with lots of designer brands that caught my attention.

The storefront printed brands on the window that I know Infinite has worn before. These brands include Balmain (Infinite has worn these during performances and also as their own clothes, like at the airport), Julius (the designer behind Infinite's Last Romeo outfit set...the Myungsoo cow outfit set...), Mastermind Japan (I saw Sungyeol wearing one of their shirts at his restaurant), Pierre Hardy (worn on stage and on their own), Raf Simons (Sunggyu and Woohyun who some at the airport), and Rick Owens (Sunggyu wears it often). Also peaking into the store, I see HBA (they've worn it for recent promotions in 2014) and Comme Des Garcons (Myungsoo wears this brand often).

Since I don't come to Aberdeen Centre too often, I feel like with each new visit there will be more and more great change! I can't wait to see what's here next time. UGH after coming back to the States, I look at the directory and see there's now also Artbox, a popular stationary store in Korea. Ugh next time I'll definitely check that out!