Hello! Comics are back! They will be regularly appearing here and on social media. The internet has changed so much since I first started this blog. It used to be that people would visit individual websites every day and now we all just scrolling through social media. So, I don’t know who is actually here reading this anymore. If you are, hello!

This is where I try to give more background to comics and videos. Also, videos will be coming back soon as well. Hugh and I are still in Seoul, and we have two children. A six-year-old and a two-year-old. Things have changed a lot!

We still live in the same area as the YG Entertainment building and sometimes I have to walk past it. I remember pre-children when I would walk past and would hope to see someone famous, and occasionally would. These days I am usually hurrying past in full mum mode and not wanting any Kpop star to see me like that! It has happened though. I saw and talked to an iKON member while a mess and picking up the kids from daycare. But the other thing about becoming a parent is you care a lot less about how you look. Age comes for us all! Both Hugh and I are in our 40’s now.

The past few years have been hard for a lot of reasons. It has taken me a long time to get into the mindset of even wanting to make anything. It’s been hard since my best friend Sara died. I talked about that on our YouTube channel. Possibly in the future I will talk more about grief in a video, but for now I am just finally glad to be in a head space where I can start to make some comics again.

4 year old walks into YG Entertainment to ask if BIGBANG is there.

Most people will know Sophie and Han’s daughter Alice from several of our videos. The other week Sophie, Alice and baby Gyo were visiting us and the walk from the bus stop goes past YG Entertainment. Alice likes Bigbang and has even been to a Bigbang concert before so she knows the YG building as “Bigbang’s house”. As we were walking back from the shops and passing YG, Alice was asking about Bigbang. We told her that as it’s a Sunday they won’t be there (which is usually true). Since she is so confident she decided to walk right into the YG driveway and ask the security guard if they were there. The security guard was very nice to her but told her they aren’t there. Usually fans are stopped before getting that far but they let her in and the security guard had a smile on his face. Alice speaks more Korean than English so the whole exchange was in Korean.

I posted this video on Instagram and it got a great response so decided to post it on YouTube too. So many people relate to Alice wanting to see Bigbang. Even some Kpop news sites picked up the story.

Thank you to everyone for all the positive comments across social media. Her mother’s Instagram is here.

Here is a photo of Alice earlier in the day:

How much do you wish that you had the confidence of a 4 year old? haha

Because it was funny and many people believing I had somehow illegally obtained secret information, I decided to make this video:

Just a little vlog about Pokemon Go finally being in South Korea.  South Korea is very late getting Pokemon Go because of mapping concerns (to do with North Korea or something) but it’s finally here! On one of the coldest days! It was about -10 when we were walking around. Since YG Entertainment (entertainment company of massive stars like BIGBANG etc) is in our neighbourhood, we walked by to see what was there in the game.

That time Seungyoon from Winner sat next to me in a little ramen restaurant.

Occasionally we see Kpop stars around because we live near YG Entertainment. I don’t think those experiences are what fans from overseas think they will be. If a celebrity is all dressed up and looks happy to be photographed it’s okay to approach them. But the hat and mask look is usually very clear sign that they may not appreciate being approached, and that’s usually how celebrities look in public. It was pretty clear Seungyoon had just popped out to eat dinner quickly and was probably in middle of recording or something. I actually really like Winner so I really respect Kang Seungyoon and that made me not want to say anything at all. So I ignored him the whole time. Luckily I was with Hugh and Han, so I did actually talk to them and hopefully wasn’t as awkward as I portrayed myself in this comic.

I tweeted about it later because I know some Winner fans follow me and someone retweeted my tweet and said something like, “Oh my life goal happened to someone else!” It made me laugh and hopefully it was a joke and they want more out of life than just eating Japanee ramen next a Kpop star.

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Snapshot of my day video up on the Nicholalala YouTube channel. These videos are small glimpses into a normal day for us.

Hugh has been so excited about Mexican culture lately (renewed enthusiasm for learning Spanish) but unfortunately he discovered he doesn’t like sour Mexican candy. He really doesn’t like anything sour, but I liked it!

It’s been a more quiet week, but Hugh still managed plenty of socializing. I made many trips to the convenience store to buy Australian Lemon, Lime and Bitters, and still managed to always miss seeing the famous people coming out of YG Entertainment.

On the weekend Chloe and I went to the iKON concert! Many people would have watched on the V app live as well, but the professional filming doesn’t always capture what it feels like to be actually at the concert. It was seriously exhilarating. There was such a positive feeling everywhere and it was an amazing concert. So some of you might be wondering who iKON is. Well you probably know that I’m a huge BIGBANG fan, who are probably the most popular and well known Kpop group. iKON is from the same entertainment agency and have only just debuted. So how can such a new group fill out a stadium with their first concert? Well iKON have been in the public eye for 2 years. First in the TV show WIN: Who is Next where they were pitted against other trainees in YG Entertainment. They actually lost and the winning team went on to debut as the group WINNER. They were then put through the stress of another elimination TV show called Mix and Match where 3 new members were added but they all had to prove they were good enough to be in the group as 2 members didn’t make the cut. These TV shows were immensely popular in Korea and a strategy of the entertainment company to gain fans before they even debut. Two members B.I. and Bobby competed in the Hip Hop elimination TV show Show Me the Money and Bobby went on to win (amazing feat for an ‘idol rapper’). So it may seem like I’ve suddenly started liking a new group, I’ve actually been following them for years, which is why it was so great to go to the debut concert. Chloe and I filmed another video about going to concerts in Korea with some more logistical info, so stay tuned for that later.

Okay the next thing I’m going to write is for international iKON fans:

I always follow a lot of stuff on Tumblr and Twitter so I know when international Kpop fans are only relying on international sites for news, how distorted the information can be or just simply misrepresented. I posted this video on Twitter not long ago and I have had so many retweets, likes and heartfelt thanks from fans in such a short time. I think international iKON fans have been seeing so much negative stuff about them and have been concerned. As someone who has been around for a while (Okay I’m old! haha) I just want to reassure you all. I do remember what it’s like as a teenager to absolutely love a band and then people saying downright mean stuff and it being so upsetting. So I’m going to take the time to hopefully give you a better view, as someone who lives in Korea and is follwing iKON and YG stuff.

Firstly the internet comments and articles that seem to show all this iKON hate is not something to worry about. The worst thing would be if iKON got no hate because it would mean they are under the radar and no one cares. BIGBANG is one of the most hated groups in Korea, but it’s because they are so loved and so popular. Everyone knows who they are. You can’t be at the top and have no haters. They might get so much hate but they get a lot more love and are some of the highest earning Kpop stars and regarded as artists by the Korean public. Not many Kpop groups get to that point. BIGBANG has paved the way for iKON, so iKON is going to have the same type of stuff to deal with.

Another reason why iKON is getting so much “hate” is because all these fans of other groups are scared. It’s pretty hard to debut with the impact that iKON has, and YG yet again has produced a group that is going to go further than all these other groups. At the concert there were so many representatives for brands and companies from other countries just there to see iKON. What other rookies can get that attention? The Kpop market is so saturated, it’s so hard for all these groups, so it’s scary to see power rookies like this if you have been dedicated to another group for years. So when you see those nasty and hateful comments from people in the comment section of articles, ignore them because it’s just lashing out from worry.

Something very important to remember is that international Kpop sites rely on clickbait. And a negative title and story is going to get way more clicks and generate way more advertising revenue for the site. At the moment iKON’s debut is a hot topic and twisting things in a negative way says more about how these sites make money than anything actually happening in Korea. For example, articles hyping up that Bobby “dissed” idol rappers etc get the clicks because all these other fan girls jump into the comment section to rage against this “offense” against their “oppas” and then the site gets more money. It doesn’t matter that dissing is part of the Hip Hop scene and an ongoing thing in Korea, or that Bobby has clearly said he is still an idol rapper and wants to encourage others. When people don’t have the context to the story and Kpop fans who comment online are usually addicted to rage, of course these sites love having these stories! As much as international Kpop fans like to think all Kpop groups are created equal, it’s not like that at all. As a winner of Show me the Money, Bobby has a lot more credibility than other idol rappers. But that’s a hard truth for a lot of other fans.

Lastly, the sad truth is that BIGBANG will be finishing up their tour and will be going into the military in the coming years. BIGBANG has always been YG Entertainment’s money maker. iKON (and WINNER to some extent) will be stepping into their shoes. YG boss knows what he is doing and will do everything to ensure iKON’s success. They have already done what other rookies haven’t done. You have probably heard of the grueling training BIGBANG had and how G-Dragon had to write songs every day. It’s the same with iKON, it’s not just about singing and dancing, but they also have to prove themselves as artists, which not many other Kpop groups have to do. You can look at YG’s track record and be confident. So everyone just chill out and relax and enjoy the music

EDIT: So some time has passed and see! They already won the best new artist for the Melon awards and the crowd was chanting their name before the winner was even announced. I’ve still had people asking me questions about being concerned about their popularity in Korea. They are called ‘Monster Rookies” here, their songs are everywhere, people actually know who they are… unlike most rookies. Please be aware of how much international Kpop sites sway people’s opinion. There is one site in particular that we all know of that hates BIGBANG and been completely nasty about them for years and years, so of course they are going to be nasty about new groups from YG too. Some people have pointed out how that site has managed to single-handedly turn the international Kpop community against iKON. In the long run it doesn’t matter. If anything I’m really glad to see how nice the iKON community has been. So don’t worry iKONICS, just ignore and let other Kpop fans be the ones giving Kpop fans a worse and worse reputation. But I also understand how much it sucks to see really love a group and see such negativity for no reason. That’s why I’ve been reaching out to iKONICS. I’m probably a lot older than most of you, but I remember what it likes… I mean I was a Hanson fan in my teens… that’s a group that got so much hate! Even though they were talented. One of the reasons why I tweet so much about iKON is to give all the international fans a better view of what is going on in Korea. Liking music should be about your own enjoyment, not about fan wars or bullying, so ignore the rude and negative people, ignore the negative Kpop sites, and just like who you want to like.

You can also check out my other tumblr where I make silly iKON comics here!

NEW IKON CONCERT VLOG HERE.

So I’ve mentioned this a few times before, but it’s finally official. I signed with a Korean publishing company to have a comic book published. It will be targeted at a Korean audience and will be a lot of the stuff that is already on the blog. So English speakers- don’t worry, you won’t be missing out on a lot. Though, if you do want to practise your Korean, maybe the book will help.

This is just the first step but we are hoping to publish a comic book in English that shows how we met and a lot more stuff later on. Right now we are focusing on the book for the Korean market. So hopefully that will all go well.

Big thank you to everyone who reads the blog. I wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for you guys. I really appreciate everyone who follows the blog.

The YG building is pretty cool to see, not only because of the famous people but because the architecture is interesting too. For those that don’t know, YG Entertainment is the company that Kpop groups like BigBang and 2NE1 are under. If you have read all my posts back to the beginning I mention early on how I have a friend that lives right near it. She doesn’t like to stare too much because she has to walk by so much and doesn’t want others to think she is a stalker. We didn’t linger either because we were just walking past, but there are always a few fans there no matter what. Usually they wait by the convenience store across the road. I have no idea if they even get to see anything interesting because cars that stars get in to drive right up to the doors, so it would only be a glimpse IF you even saw anyone. I suppose there is small chance of someone going out to buy something from the store. I couldn’t do it though… I walked past one time in the rain on the way to the subway and fans were still there huddled under umbrellas.