Drama: Live On
Hangul: 라이브온
Director: Kim Sang-Woo
Writer: Bang Yoo-Jung
Network: JTBC
Episodes: 8
Release Date: November 17, 2020 - January 12, 2021
Country: South Korea
Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki: Baek Ho-Rang (Jung Da-Bin) is a high school student. Due to her pretty appearance, she is popular on social media and at her school. Yet, Baek Ho-Rang only has one friend, due to her condescending personality. Baek Ho-Rang encounters a problem. She learns that someone is trying to unveil her secret. To find that anonymous person, Baek Ho-Rang joins her high school's broadcasting club. Go Eun-Taek (Minhyun) is the chief of the broadcasting club. He is a perfectionist and respected by the club members.

My rating: 5/5 stars (★) 

I decided to watch Live On because I needed something light-hearted and cute, and with the background of high school students, this drama seems promising. I was also aware that there were at least three idols acting in this drama, and through experience, I usually do not have high expectations for dramas starring idols unless I know their acting skills prior to watching it. I watched Live On without much expectations, and I guess it's a nice surprise to find out that I really enjoyed it!

Despite being popular in school thanks to her beautiful looks, Baek Horang (played by Jung Dabin) wasn't really friendly with anyone. The only friend that she had was Kim Yooshin (played by Choi Byungchan), who basically followed her willingly, almost resembling a loyal puppy. When an anonymous person threatened to expose her secret, she ends up joining the school's broadcasting club, where she met the chief of the club, Go Euntaek (played by Minhyun). She also reunited with an old friend, Ji Sohyun (played by Yang Hyeji), causing old wounds to reopen. 

(Gif by dingyuxi)

I love Baek Horang's character a lot; she might seem cold and rude to strangers, but those were actually the walls she built around everyone because of her past. Being popular comes with its consequences, and Horang never opened up to anyone because she could not trust them. Fun fact: the word "horang" means tiger in Korean, and I think her name fits her character really well. She's fierce when she needs to be and didn't let anyone step on her, and I love her for that.

But no matter how fierce one can be, they probably have something the fear. And for Horang, something traumatising happened to her in the past, causing her to drift apart from Sohyun due to miscommunication and lies. The way she dealt with her trauma can be frustrating at times; she pushed away Euntaek when he promised to wait for her, and she pushed away Sohyun, Yooshin and Jaeyi, the friends who would do anything for her. In a way, it seemed that she didn't feel that she deserved all the love from her friends, and that's heartbreaking.

A high school drama like this usually features a cold top-student male character, but thankfully Go Euntaek escaped the cliché. He wasn't described as the top student (although I don't doubt he is), but he's the chief to the broadcasting club and respected well due to his strictness  with time. He times every single thing he does, down to the very last second. His character is rather unique, without being frustrating. He's firm when he needs to be, but he can be gentle when he wants to. Just as much as I loved Horang, I love Euntaek a lot too.

He's blunt and good at separating personal matters from work matters, which caused confusion to Horang many times. But his bluntness can be heart-fluttering as well; he didn't hesitate at all to confess when he realised about his feelings towards Horang. I honestly could not contain my excited squeals whenever Euntaek casually did something sweet for Horang. He didn't even mind when everyone found out about his feelings, despite Horang not reciprocating it yet at the moment. Quite a dreamy guy, I'd say.

(Gif by dingyuxi)

The other characters are also wonderfully fleshed out. Ji Sohyun seemed to be a hateful character at first when she first reunited with Horang, but when we learned about their past, Sohyun turns out to be a true and loyal friend, from the start till the end. My favourite character is Kim Yooshin, the boy with the brightest personality who pretty much considers himself as everyone's best friend. He has the sweetest smile (this might be thanks to the actor himself, but hey, both are cute anyway) and his adorable antics can make almost everyone succumb to whatever he wants. In a way, I believe he's one of the reasons the six of the main characters were able to become close with each other.

Kang Jaeyi (played by Yeonwoo) bickered a lot  at first with Horang, but eventually they warmed up to each other, and she ends up staying loyal to Horang the same way Yooshin did. Do Woojae (played by Ro Jonghyun) might seem like he just happened to be Jaeyi's boyfriend and Euntaek's best friend, but his presence kind of balanced out the group. The differences between Woojae and Jaeyi that caused them to break up multiple times were frustrating to watch, but it was endearing to see the efforts that they put into each other.

(Gif by httpdrama)

Despite having only 8 episodes, I went through a lot of emotions watching Live On. I love each character and each couple for many different reasons. Horang and Euntaek didn't seem compatible at first, but they were used to loneliness, and they end up leaning towards each other for support. Euntaek was very patient with Horang, and in return, she was there when he needed a shoulder to cry on. I also love Yooshin's dedication over showing his adoration towards Sohyun, and the fact that he never pushed his feelings on her just made me respect him. Sohyun and Jaeyi were ready almost anytime Horang needed support, and it's nice to see a drama depicting good friendship between girls.

(Gif by dingyuxi)

The main issue that caused the conflicts in this drama were all due to jealousy and misunderstanding, and it was infuriating when the whole truth came out. It did however portray the real word; certain people can destroy someone's life without batting an eye simply because they're jealous of what others have. I do think it's kind of ironic, because the villain who threatened Horang did what she did because she craved the same attention that Horang got, yet I never even realised her presence before the revelation. She blamed Horang for the attentions that Horang got, while she herself were not able to make her own presence known.

All in all, Live On is a much more enjoyable drama then I expected. It portrays beautiful friendships and sweet youthful romance that are great to watch if you needed something light-hearted. It also shows the bitter truth about jealousy and being a victim of bully, which I think are important issues to always take note of. The cast did a great job playing their characters, and I do think Minhyun and Choi Byungchan have the potential to become great actors. I would look forward to their next acting projects for sure!

(Gif by dingyuxi)

Till next time ♡ Love, Aishah Humaira'


Hello ₍˶ˆ꒳ˆ˶₎✼:♡*゚✿ The last time I prepared a haul post was January/February 2020; hard to believe that it's been a year already since then! Truthfully, thanks to the MCO (Movement Control Order) caused by the pandemic and being stuck at home, I splurged a lot last year. But because of the MCO too, I hadn't been productive much, hence I didn't bother writing any haul posts for the rest of the year.

I'm hoping I'll be able to write more this year though! So, here's the haul post for January 2021 ✨(◕▿◕✿)

1. Nivea Soothing Cleansing Oil with Natural Grape Seed Oil


I've tried Nivea's Nourishing Cleansing Oil with Natural Macadamia Oil previously (my sister's) and I quite liked it. So I wanted to try the one with natural grape seed oil as it's made for sensitive skin. The scent of this one was not as good as the one with natural macadamia oil, but I still love the texture of it. It's perfect to be used for double cleansing.

I also like the feature of the bottle as you can lock it, preventing it from spilling if you'd like to bring it for travel. 

+ Purchased from Watsons 

2. Books, books, books!


I got myself four books in January—three of them are review copies from Pansing, and one from a friend.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven has always been one of my most favourite books, so when the author released a new book, I really wanted to get it. I was lucky when one of my friends was giving away her copy, I immediately let her know that I wished to have it. Can't wait to read Breathless soon!

The Elephant in the Room, House of Hollow and Concrete Rose were sent to me back in December, but due to certain reasons, I only received them in January. I've already read all three books, and my reviews for The Elephant in the Room and Concrete Rose are now available.

3. Clothing Rack


My old clothing rack had started leaning on one side (I probably have too much clothes already...) so I decided to purchase a new one. I got a white one this time since my mum said it would look neater, and I'm very happy with this purchase!

I'll try not to hang too much clothes this time, I guess.

+ Purchased from zeonline on Shopee; product currently sold out

4. 'Serene', 'Reverie', 'Nebula' & 'Hidden' Gold Enamel Pins


All these enamel pins are from @kazel_ on Instagram, but I didn't purchase them directly from the artist. I got these from a seller on Carousell who sold all four pins for only RM20! That was the cheapest price I paid for enamel pins, and I'm so delighted that they turned out to be absolutely stunning!

Can be purchased at @kazel_'s Etsy

5. Shell Resin Pin


Was browsing around Mr. DIY when I came across this small shell-shaped resin pin. I think it looks really pretty, so I bought it on an impulse.

Purchased at Mr. DIY

6. Scented Candles


I'm happy to say that I managed to overcome my fear of lighting up candles this month, and I got myself two new candles! The one on the left is a hand-poured soy candle from Le Flame Candles and it has a rich aroma of coffee mixed with a sweet scent of vanilla. Definitely one of the most scrumptious candle scent I've ever encountered! 

The candle on the right is a vanilla wax candle, and although it's not as lovely as the one from Le Flame Candles, I still love it's version of soft sweet vanilla.

I think I'll prefer to have soy candles instead of wax candles from now on.

You can also watch my unboxing video of the Morning Coffee candle on my YouTube channel: here!

+ Morning Coffee candle purchased from Le Flame Candles on Shopee
+ Vanilla candle purchase from IKEA

7. Earrings 


TMI: I used to have four piercings (one on my left ear, three on my right ear) but since I have very sensitive skin, I had to take them out and now I believe the holes are covered already.

Which means that I won't be able to wear these earrings. But I bought them anyway because they looked cute! I think they'll end up being used as a hanging ornament or wall decor for my room.

Purchased at Mr. DIY

8. BTS Jungkook 2021 New Year's Eve Live Postcard


This is part of the 2021 New Year's Eve Live Merch Postcard Set, but since the whole set costs a lot, I decided to get Jungkook's postcard only from a seller who was taking orders for loose set. I just can't say no to Jungkook with long hair—I'm obsessed! ଘ(੭ ˘ ᵕ˘)━♡。゚.*・。゚ᵕ꒳ᵕ~

+ Purchased from dntrbl on Carousell

9. Photocards of Lovely Bois


I initially paid for two Jungkook (BTS) photocards, but the seller made a mistake and sent me one of Jin's (BTS) instead. Didn't manage to get a refund because the seller went MIA, but I love Jin anyway so it's okay. Guess I'll have to keep searching for Jungkook's Version 2 photocard from their MOTS: 7 album then ¯\_(ಥ‿ಥ)_/¯

So happy to finally get a merch of Chani (SF9); he looks absolutely adorable wearing that yellow beret ♥⌒ヽ(˘꒳˘ *) I don't really stan SF9 as a whole, but I love their songs and Chani and Rowoon snatched my heart, so it's nice to have these photocards of Chani. Will find something of Rowoon's soon!

Thanks to watching A Love So Beautiful (Korean ver.), I also found myself falling for Yohan (WEi, formerly X1) as he's just too cute to resist! It resulted in an impulsive purchase of his photocards from when he was still in X1. I decided to stan his current group WEi as well, and I can't wait for their first comeback at the end of this month ♡´・ᴗ・`♡

Eunsang's (formerly X1) photocards were bought together with Yohan's as the seller wanted to clear her photocards quickly and offered me a cheap price for all of them. I know nothing about Eunsang, but I agreed to purchase them since he looks cute anyway. I might resell or give them away to someone who actually loves him soon, so if you're a fan of Eunsang, do let me know!

+ Jungkook and Jin photocards from alexxkpop on Carousell
+ Chani photocards from woonlurv on Carousell
+ Yohan and Eunsang photocards from ffflxx on Carousell

10. Laptop Pouch


I haven't had a laptop bag in a long time, and since the laptop bag that I borrowed from my older sister started to disintegrate, I believed it was time get a new bag. My sister suggested getting a pouch instead of a bag, and I came across this one while browsing through Shopee.

It's colour is a pretty shade of pink, and it fits my laptop perfectly! It's a bit unfortunate that I couldn't fit in the charging cable as well, but I have another pouch to keep my charging cable and other essential things related to my laptop (mouse, drawing tablet, earphone, etc.) so there was no problem. The material of this pouch is also of high quality! I think I'll be able to use this pouch for a long time.

+ Purchased from chooseset.my on Shopee

11. Air Humidifier


I've always wanted to have an air humidifier for my room, and my older sister bought one for me. It has an adorable cat shape that can even light up! It works perfectly, although I'm not so sure if it made any changes to my room.

+ Purchased from Watsons

12. Purple Hoodie


I got this purple hoodie to match with my best friend, Nick! It was her birthday on the 15th of January, so I wanted to get something for her, and settled with getting matching hoodies for us. The colour is very pretty and the material is also soft and comfy to wear, perfect for cold weathers!

Honestly have no idea what the words on the sleeve are supposed to mean, but I love it when there are words/patterns/designs etched on sleeves so I find it cute anyway.

+ Purchased from wujidianli.my on Shopee

13. BTS 2021 Season's Greeting — Photobook and Calendar


Unlike last year when I got the full set for BTS Season's Greeting, I decided to only get the photobook and calendar this year. I really love their retro concept for this year's season's greeting, and although I wish I had gotten the full set anyway, I'm still happy with these two!

I made a flip-through video for the calendar and photobook on my YouTube channel: here! You can watch it if you're interested to know the contents of the calendar and photobook.

+ Purchased from jungoossoul on Carousell

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That's all for January 2021 ✨ I had a fun time editing the pictures for this post; I might continue with the colourful doodles for my next haul posts. Thank you for taking your time to read this post until the end!



Till next time ♡ Love, Aishah Humaira'


 
I was given the opportunity to read Dancing Souls, A Deserving Love, A Leap of Faith, A Jar of Hope and A Quote a Day by Sharifah Nadirah in exchange for my honest review. Since there is a total of five books, I'll try to make my reviews as brief as possible so that this post won't be too long.
Don't be afraid to feel, emotions are beautiful, to feel is a way to deal with life episodes. They say to feel and express everything is a sign of weakness and you will appear vulnerable, I beg to differ. Those who have never tried to feel and resist to experience going through their own emotions will appear strong on the outside but apparently they are fragile on the inside, because they never feel, and when we don't feel, we will never know how to handle a touch of an emotion, that's why it will easily drive us insane. Diving deep into a feeling will make us want to swim up for air again, to breathe again, to see everything clear again and to believe once more. Choose to feel. To feel is fearless, it breeds courage.

My overall rating: 3.75 / 5 ★


Dancing Souls is a collection of uplifting and self-empowering poetry. The poems radiate strong yet delicate vibes, and there were several pieces that sound sassy as well. I enjoyed reading this poetry collection, especially the ones that mentioned God's greatness in them. It's not often for me to read poems with religious (Islamic) elements in it, so I really appreciate the poet's take on them.


However, there were more than a few things that I couldn't get through, no matter how much I loved reading Dancing Souls. I'd like to touch upon the language, grammar and punctuation first. I'm very particular about these three matters whenever I read anything, and even if they're free verse poems, I take these matter seriously.


I noticed that the poet tend to use shortened/informal words (e.g. "imma") in her poems, and I find this quite unflattering. To me, a poem should sound graceful—not all the time of course, as the subject of each poetry vary—but using words like "imma" or "wanna" just takes the beauty out of the poetry. Words like that should be reserved for dialogues only. This could possibly be a typing error, but the poet had confused the word "then" and "than". These two words are used in completely different situations, and in 'Do What You Love, Love What You Do', it should have been "then", instead of "than".


I also noticed that a few poems appeared twice. 'Throne'/'The Throne' and 'Hatred' are the ones that I noticed to appear twice in the book. I like the final section of the book, 'Late Night Thoughts', as they felt very raw to me. However, grammatical errors and typos are too glaring on this part, which left me a bit dismayed. There were multiple missing full stops (full stops are important!), spaces before a punctuation mark (there shouldn't be any spaces before a punctuation mark), wrong use of punctuation marks, and a quite messy use of uppercase and lowercase letters.


I do realise that this part of the book was named 'Late Night Thoughts', so these errors are probably meant to be left alone to reflect the impulsiveness of the late night thoughts, but I can't find myself able to get pass them. I also personally think that the quotes from other people were not needed in the book; they felt unnecessary and the poet didn't actually need them to prove her point. 


Overall, reading Dancing Souls was fun as I could relate to many of its pieces. The problems that I listed are probably to my personal preference (I tend to judge poetry collection harsher than fiction books) so this shouldn't discourage you to pick up the book. Here's one of the poems that I loved:


Hell

I've been through hell for a number of times
And you act as if I could die from
the fire that you started
The flame does not scare me dear
I've been burned alive many times before
Can't you see these scars?
That little flame of yours is my friend
It won't hurt me dear.
Now what's with that look on your face?
Surprised?


;


A Deserving Love is a collection of inspirational words that talks about the true meaning of love that we truly deserve. If I have to be very honest, I couldn't connect well with this collection, but I do appreciate the author's take on innocent and kind love. It's not only meant to be about love towards someone else, but also love towards yourself and towards God. 


A Jar of Hope speaks about how difficult facing reality is, but one should not ever lose hope. It reassures the reader that it's okay to be yourself, and that having hope helps us to continue forward with our dreams or goals. This is the kind of book that would be perfect to read out aloud, just so that we can let the words soak into our minds and hearts better when listening to it.


A Leap of Faith feels very personal, as it was written with a gentle tone for those that feels worn out or tired with life. This collection includes inspiring words that may guide readers to have faith in themselves, and to take it easy. It's perfectly okay to have imperfections, all you need to do is have faith in yourself that you can take that leap forward. Among these five books that I read, this would be my favourite 


A Quote a Day is a beautiful book filled with 30 motivational quotes that are meant to be devoured as constantly as needed. It's a book of comfort that encourages readers to see themselves as who they are; there's no need to change just to fit someone else's standard if you are content with being who you are. This book does not only contain lovely illustrations, but the words are also very uplifting. I don't think it would be wrong to make this book a daily read!


Overall, Sharifah Nadirah did a wonderful job writing all these books. Even if not all of them are my cup of tea, I still enjoyed reading all of them. Thank you once again to the poet for giving me these copies of e-books in exchange for my honest review. If you're interested in getting any of these books, you may contact the poet herself on her Instagram account: here!


Till next time ♡ Love, Aishah Humaira'

 


Title: The Elephant in the Room
Series: -
Author: Holly Goldberg Sloan
Publisher: Piccadilly Press
Genres: Middle Grade, Children
Format: Paperback
Expected Publication Date: March 2nd 2021
Pages: 250

Synopsis (Goodreads): It's been almost a year since Sila's mother traveled halfway around the world to Turkey, hoping to secure the immigration paperwork that would allow her to return to her family in the United States.

The long separation is almost impossible for Sila to withstand. But things change when Sila accompanies her father (who is a mechanic) outside their Oregon town to fix a truck. There, behind an enormous stone wall, she meets a grandfatherly man who only months before won the state lottery. Their new alliance leads to the rescue of a circus elephant named Veda, and then to a friendship with an unusual boy named Mateo, proving that comfort and hope come in the most unlikely of places.

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My rating: 3 / 5 ★

The Elephant in the Room is a heartwarming and pleasing story about a young girl who had to face a long separation from her mother, and found comfort in befriending an old man who won the state lottery, a circus elephant called Veda, and an autistic boy named Mateo.


I consider the story to be quite delightful. I like Sila's character; she was definitely upset about being separated from her mother and it changed her bright personality to quiet and reserved in school, but ever since befriending her three new friends, I feel that she tried her best to have a more positive outlook on her life. There was a reason why Gio, the old man, was so keen to get to know Sila more, and the reason between their friendship was rather bittersweet.


I also like the fact that Sila tried her best to let Mateo just be himself. I have no personal experience with an autistic person; the closest that I have would be a friend's brother. The boy is entirely sweet when we met, but I only spent little time to know him so I wouldn't say I know anything much regarding autism. I am aware that there are different spectrum of autism, and I appreciate the author by approaching the matter through Sila's eyes. There were times where Sila couldn't get Mateo at all, or his reactions annoyed her, but she did her best to try to understand the fact that his way of dealing with the world is different than hers. And that's how the greatest friendship is built—by the efforts of understanding each other's differences.


I would say that those are the things that made this book a pleasant read. However, I will have to continue this review with several things that didn't sit right with me. 


I will start with the fact that this book is a story about a Turkish girl, written by a white person. Sure, Sila is considered an American citizen since she was born in the country, but her parents are Turkish and the fact that this was written by someone entirely not of the race is a bit iffy. I did read the author's bio mentioning that she used to live in Istanbul, but that definitely did not mean she could use the Turkish identity simply because of that. Not to mention the fact that Sila "supposedly" speaks Turkish with her parents at home, but not a single Turkish word was ever mentioned in the book. She even called her parents "mom" and "papa". The author could have at least used the word mom and dad in Turkish, which was the least that she could do.


I also find it hard to swallow that the author tried to make Sila someone very American. There was a moment where she noticed that her favourite sweater was the colour of the American flag, and it all just feel weird to me. Sure, in reality, someone like Sila is allowed to be proud of being American however she wants. But this book is written by someone clearly non-Turkish, and for her to write about a Turkish girl to be proud of being American just sounds demeaning. 


And then there's Veda, the elephant. I love animals, and I love stories with animals in it, but Veda's case is a bit weird to me. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the elephant—she's just a sweet circus elephant that was rescued and the main reason why Sila could bond closer with Gio and Mateo. Somehow, the author decided to include chapters from the perspective of the elephant herself. And that, is where it gets weird. I know animals do have feelings and memories too, but writing it down in the way a human would react or feel, feels too weird for me. I would've understood if the main character is Veda, but it's not. This is my personal thought though, someone else might have found Veda's chapters to be heartwarming. I just felt that it did not serve any purpose to the story.


Overall, reading The Elephant in the Room was relatively easy. Although I did enjoy the storyline, there were things I couldn't accept, and I didn't really fancy the author's writing style either. It was too descriptive and there were many info-dumping, which sometimes made me want to skim over everything. This would still be a good book for young readers that wish to slowly get into reading though, because the language is rather simple. Many thanks to Pansing for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest review. The Elephant in the Room is set to be published on 2nd of March 2021.


;

One of the rules when she went with her dad on work trips was to approach everyone she met not just with respect but also with caution. You shouldn't trust someone, she had been taught, until you really knew the person.


Till next time ♡ Love, Aishah Humaira'