Photolog 2021: Day 24 of 365

So the cup sleeves I ordered from Boratae for Jin's and Taehyung's birthdays finally arrived, and even though we're about a month late, Ying and I still went out to have a belated BTS birthday bubble tea outing because it's tradition and we are diligent ARMY and, you know, better late than never. (Well that was a lovely run-on sentence if there ever was one.) 

Strawberry Popo Yakult and Passion Fruit Yakult
Kim Seokjin and Kim Taehyung Birthday Cup Sleeves
Kim Seokjin and Kim Taehyung Birthday Polaroids
Kim Seokjin and Kim Taehyung Birthday Photocards
We decided to try out a new bubble tea place called Shuyi Tealicious, and got two of the Yakult drinks (Passion Fruit for me, Strawberry Popo for Ying) and celebrated in my car. (Yay, pandemic!) Ying didn't really like her Strawberry drink (apparently it was too watered down, there wasn't nearly enough strawberry flavour, and the Yakult was barely detectable), while mine was decent (it had a very strong passion fruit flavour despite it being at 30% sugar, but I couldn't taste much of the Yakult, either), but I think we'll stick to the Lemon or Grapefruit Yakult drinks at CoCo for next time. Regardless, the drinks are obviously secondary to the whole purpose of this outing. Happy ultra-belated birthday to our winter flowers, Jin and Tae! And thank you so much to Boratae for making these lovely cup sleeve sets (that included Polaroid-style photos as well as photo cards!) so that we could still have a celebration for BTS' December babies during this lockdown.

Photolog 2021: Day 22 of 365

Tonight's dinner: Cheese tortellini with lean Italian sausage and green peppers in four cheese sauce. With extra parm. (Thank god I'm not lactose intolerant.)

Friday Five: Every family has one

This week's Friday Five:

1. Who's the nastiest flavour in the ice cream parlour? Daiquiri Ice. And Bubblegum. 
   
   
2. Which item in the produce aisle is most likely to spoil the party? Durian. 
   
   
3. What's the most embarrassing song by your favourite musician or band? "Miss Right" by BTS. Sorry, boys, it's been years but I still think it's cringey AF.
   
   
   
4. Which part of your body is always in trouble? Well, they still haven't figured out why I have high blood pressure and why my heart rate is so fast even when resting, so I'm gonna go with heart right now. But my neck pain is only getting worse with age.
   
   
5. What's the worst film in your favourite actor's filmography? After much debate, I'm gonna go with The Place Beyond the Pines. Sorry, Ryan.

Photolog 2021: Day 20 of 365

I've been dealing with some personal shit and have been generally feeling unmotivated, but knowing I needed a pick-me-up, Ying surprised me with a box of my favourite Korean-style "fat macarons" (a.k.a. my ultimate guilty pleasure) from The Social Blend. (Honestly, she is really an awesome friend. I need to take her out for a bubble tea.) 

The Social Blend Korean-Style Macarons
The Social Blend Korean-Style Macarons
The Social Blend Korean-Style Macarons — January Flavours
The Social Blend Korean-Style Macarons — Cranberry Apricot
The Social Blend Korean-Style Macarons — Masala Chai Brownie
The Social Blend Korean-Style Macarons — Peanut Butter Banana
The Social Blend Korean-Style Macarons — Dulce de Leche Cheesecake
The Social Blend Korean-Style Macarons — Matcha Red Bean
The Social Blend Korean-Style Macarons — Black Sesame

She included all four of their limited edition January flavours:

• Cranberry Apricot — Apricot jam and buttercream with a housemade cranberry apricot sauce in the centre, and oat streusel on the outside
• Masala Chai Brownie — Vanilla chai buttercream with a fudgy chai spiced chocolate brownie, made with an infusion of Genuine Tea's organic Masala Chai and a house blend of spices
• Peanut Butter Banana — Caramelized bananas in an anglaise cream surrounding a delicious peanut butter cookie
• Dulce de Leche Cheesecake — Lightly caramelized cheesecake with graham cracker crust between two layers of luscious dulce de leche buttercream and a dulce de leche sauce in the centre

She also added the two returning rotational flavours, Matcha Red Bean and Black Sesame (she got me two of these 'cause it's my favourite, but honestly, they should really just make this flavour permanent), as well as two signature flavours in Earl Grey and Tiramisu to round it all up. Indeed, January presents are better than Christmas presents.

Run BTS!: Episode 125

Mr. Paik: "Aha, these guys don't have skills but have a lot of energy."

Namjoon: "You saw right through us in just ten minutes."

Mr. Paik: "So it was all thanks to the editing. You seemed very skillful when I watched Run BTS!..."

[Then, a bombardment of questions]

Tae: "Do you dip your tangsuyuk into the sauce or mix it in?"

[Caption: Will the question of the century finally get its answer…?]

Mr. Paik: "... This issue is too important. I can't speak so easily about it."

Jin: "It's a very important question."

Mr. Paik: "The two groups are very against each other."

Namjoon: "You could flip the whole country with this."

Jungkook, suddenly: "Do you like mint chocolate or not?"

[Caption: One of the most sensitive questions ever.]

Jimin: "I've never seen him flustered."

Hobi, suddenly: "Mr. Paik, do you like pineapples on your pizza or not? Yes pineapples or no pineapples?"

Tae, suddenly: "Can you eat 8 crackers in 1 minute or not?"

[Mr. Paik smartly walks away.]

Conclusion:

Mr. Paik: "They all seem to love cooking... though they have no talent for it." 

BTS V LIVE [RM]: I'm a little late, aren't I?

Namjoon came on V Live for the first time in a long time, which also marks the first BTS livestream of the year. (No subtitles yet, but there are, of course, live translations up.) Been kinda down recently due to a death in the family, made harder because of the pandemic as well as being in the middle of winter, so I have been somewhat MIA and not in the mood to do anything. That having been said, BTS has always been there to cheer me up, and Namjoon going live today, just talking about what he's been doing and random goings-on, has made me feel better.

Friday Five: Groovy, rad, lit

This week's Friday Five:

1. Which slang term from your youth, no longer in common use, do you remember fondly? "Booyah," "talk to the hand," and "take a chill pill." 
   
   
2. What slang do you still use, 'though it's no longer in common use? "Whatever." Although I feel like I still hear it randomly. At least from millennials. 
   
   
3. Which current (or sorta recent) slang terms do you particularly like? "Facts" and "I'm dead" are the ones I use the most. I also like "basic" and "shade," though I use them to a lesser extent.
   
   
4. Which slang terms, past or present, do you especially dislike? Past: "All that and a bag of chips" and "eat my shorts." Present (-ish?): "YOLO" and "On fleek." Recent: "Cancelled," "periodt," "[spill the] tea," and "yeet."
   
   
5. What slang terms are specific to your geographical region? Okay, really random, but Shawn Mendes actually got most of them here 'cause his hometown is literally 30 minutes away from where I live. (Note: Almost all the slang — actually, some aren't even slang but literally just random things in the Greater Toronto Area — in this video is specific to the Southern Ontario, not Canada as a whole.)
   
   

BTS TinyTAN: Dream ON — Animation

"When this song ends, may you be a little happier."

BTS for TIME: December 21 / 28, 2020 — Person of the Year Issue

As I've mentioned, all the magazines I've ordered over the last two months are arriving right now, and the latest of the bunch is TIME's Person of the Year issue. And you may be wondering why the hell I needed to get this issue with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on the cover. (I mean, I respect them, of course, but I'm not so heavily invested in American politics that it would make me actually spend money on a magazine I don't normally read just because they're on the cover.) Well, obviously, it's because BTS is in it. Because they were named TIME's Entertainer of the Year. (They are actually on the inside cover. I guess a Korean pop group might be a tiny bit less important than the new U.S. president to some people...)

TIME Magazine: December 21/28, 2020 — Person of the Year Issue
BTS for TIME Magazine: December 21/28, 2020 — Person of the Year Issue
BTS for TIME Magazine: December 21/28, 2020 — Person of the Year Issue
BTS for TIME Magazine — Entertainer of the Year Cover Art Print
The entire article for BTS is literally only three pages (with one page being a photo), but they look so goddamn good in this photoshoot that it compelled me to buy not just two copies of the magazine, but also an official art print of their cover photo from the TIME Cover Store. Now I just really need to figure out how to maximize my wall space...

Run BTS!: Episode 124

[Discussing different activities they could play for future Run BTS! episodes]

J-Hope: "How long does 42.195km feel like?"

Jin: "Marathon runners run faster than the fastest that we can run, but they do that for a few hours."

[After another ten-minute discussion]

Jin: "... Hearing the list of sports makes me think that creating a band would be better."

Jin, as succinct as ever.

BTS for WSJ. Magazine: November 2020 — The Innovators Issue

If you didn't already know, BTS was featured in a number of American magazine publications over the past couple months. And Ying and I made it our mission to get every single one. (Obviously.) And our order for WSJ. Magazine's November 2020 issue, which is also their "Innovators Issue," finally arrived today.

BTS for WSJ. Magazine November 2020 Issue
BTS for WSJ. Magazine November 2020 Issue
Within an hour of the pre-order release, the BTS cover of the issue — at their original standard price of $12 — was sold out. (There are eight different covers for the November issue. Needless to say, the BTS cover is the only one that anyone cares about.) So they decided to do a second run of the BTS cover version. Except jacked up to $25 each — more than double the original price. Did Ying and I still buy them? Yes, yes we did. But were we fucking pissed about it? Yes, yes we were. In fact, ARMY was so livid at this ridiculous price increase that WSJ. Magazine had to put out an official statement: 

"WSJ. Magazine is delighted by the enthusiasm for BTS, the 2020 WSJ. Magazine Music Innovator. Due to the overwhelming demand for more copies of the issue, we have been able to negotiate a reprint. The current price is a reflection of the production costs incurred by this unusual situation."

BTS for WSJ. Magazine November 2020 Issue
BTS for WSJ. Magazine November 2020 Issue
Okay, whatever, if that's the bullshit you want to feed us, then so be it. But then about five hours after we put in our order for the BTS cover issue, they decided to announce individual member covers. Because they KNOW the power of ARMY and how fucking thirsty we are for our seven boys, and like any smart business, they need to milk us for all we got. These individual member cover issues were also set at $25 each — but with a "Buy 2, Get 2 Free" promotion in hopes that we wouldn't remember that the original price of WSJ. Magazine is $12 to begin with. (The "promotion" sets each copy at $12.50 but only in denominations of four. So if you want one of each member, you're either stuck with getting four copies at $12.50 each and three at full price, or you have to get eight copies. I mean, hey, they ain't Wall Street Journal for nothing.)

BTS for WSJ. Magazine November 2020 Issue — RM and Jin
BTS for WSJ. Magazine November 2020 Issue — Suga and J-Hope
BTS for WSJ. Magazine November 2020 Issue — Jimin and V
BTS for WSJ. Magazine November 2020 Issue — Jungkook
But even KNOWING that this was a blatant cash grab, I STILL HAD TO HAVE THEM. And as a diligent, thorough collector, I needed to get one of each, so Ying, who originally wanted to order two, only got the cover with V (her bias) so the "promotion" pricing would go through. Thus, not only did I buy three copies of the original BTS cover issue (two for framing, one for keeping intact for my collection), as well as one of each of the individual member cover issues, I also had to pay for shipping twice. Now, don't get me wrong. The covers are gorgeous. Every single member looks fucking stunning, and both the styling and photography is impeccable. The article is well-written and articulate as well. But the real conclusion after all of this is: I AM A TOTAL SUCKER.

BTS for Esquire: Winter 2020/21 Issue

THE UNICORN HAS LANDED.

BTS for Esquire Winter 2020/21 Issue
BTS for Esquire Winter 2020/21 Issue
BTS for Esquire Winter 2020/21 Issue
BTS for Esquire Winter 2020/21 Issue
BTS for Esquire Winter 2020/21 Issue
BTS for Esquire Winter 2020/21 Issue
You might be asking, "What the fuck are you talking about a unicorn for?" So, Esquire announced their BTS cover issue in November. As per most magazines these days, they released the interview and photos online first, and then the actual physical publication would be released a week or two later. (The article is honestly one of the best ones I've read yet. Well-written and well-researched. And this photoshoot is also one of the most gorgeous I've seen, which is really saying something because BTS is always gorgeous.) Obviously, all ARMYs were hell-bent on buying it. It sold out online within minutes. So Ying and I were like, "Oh, we can just get it in stores, it's a huge men's magazine, it's sold everywhere." 

HOW WRONG WE WERE.

After checking three different Walmarts, six Shoppers Drug Marts, two Chapters locations, and five convenience stores, plus getting Ronsee to help me look (who checked even more stores than we did, bless him), it was actually Ronsee's girlfriend who ended up finding ONE SINGLE COPY at an obscure Shoppers Drug Mart location about an hour away from Toronto. Y'all, what the fuck. Like, I am forever thankful to her for helping me search for this magazine at all (Ronsee apparently mentioned his search for this magazine for me, and she decided to help look as well, and yes, I have wonderful friends), but how can a hugely popular men's magazine that is sold internationally be SO FUCKING HARD TO FIND HERE? I was hoping to get at least two copies so both Ying and I would have one, but alas, it seems that Ronsee's girlfriend found the last copy in the entire Greater Toronto Area. So, as I said, a unicorn.

But goddamn, the unicorn is fucking pretty. 

Friday Five: Watching my figure

This week's Friday Five:

1. What are some figurines you own? Wayyyyy too many BT21 figurines, plus TinyTan (in fact, the "MIC Drop" themed ones just arrived at Korgou), plus the BTS Funko Pops, as well as the BTS Bearbricks... So, basically all the BTS ones.
   
   
2. What are you trying to figure out?  If I should apply for a secured line of credit. (Damn, that was a very adult answer.)
   
   
3. Two circles or one continuous motion: how do you write the figure 8? Continuous motion.
   
   
4. How do you feel about Fig Newtons? You know, come to think of it, I've never had one before. I feel like Fig Newtons aren't popular in Canada. In fact, I don't know if I've even seen them at the supermarkets here. If they're stocked here, I have never paid them any attention. But I imagine them to taste like Nutri-Grain bars.
   
   
5. What’s a good metaphor to describe your first week of 2021? Same old shit.

Photolog 2021: Day 7 of 365

So, really random, but Line Friends Collection came out with BT21 stick coffee last month, and both the ARMY and coffee addict in me was immediately like, "GIMME." (Technically, BTS are already ambassadors for a line of coffee, but it's hard to get here and shipping liquids is a pain in the ass, so I haven't bothered.)

BT21 Stir Berry Stick Coffee
BT21 Stir Berry Stick Coffee — Dark Roast
BT21 Stir Berry Stick Coffee — Dark Roast
BT21 Stir Berry Stick Coffee — Mild Roast
BT21 Stir Berry Stick Coffee — Mild Roast
They're called "Stir Berry Stick Coffee" (I have no idea why it's called "Stir Berry" because it has nothing to do with berries or fruit in general) and was made in collaboration with beverage distribution company, IKIDEA. Each stick has a little pouch of ground coffee on each side and you just drop it into a mug of hot water and stir. As someone who drinks quite a lot of instant coffee, I thought this was a truly delightful idea, so I bought two boxes each of the Mild and Dark roasts. The key selling point here is, of course, that each stick features a different BT21 character, and this part can be detached to use as a bookmark. (Granted, I don't need 28 bookmarks, but whatever, this is fucking cute.)

BT21 Happy Fur Slippers — Cooky and Chimmy
Baby BT21 House Slippers — Chimmy
BT21 x OHSCENT Perfume Tags — Cooky and Chimmy
But there was also the Line Friends' Winter Sale going on, and it would've been churlish not to pick up a few more things since I had to pay for shipping anyway, you know? So I also got another two pairs of the BT21 Happy Fur Slippers in Chimmy and Cooky (these are truly the best slippers for winter as I'm wearing the Cooky ones I bought two years ago right now and they are both warm and comfy AF), plus a pair of Baby BT21 House Slippers in Chimmy, and randomly, two BT21 x OHSCENT Perfume Tags because I thought they'd be cute air fresheners for my car. And yeah, this is what happens when you decide to do online shopping at 3:00AM. You get a mish-mash of coffee, slippers, and air fresheners. 

Run BTS!: Episode 123

RM: "As for the teamwork... J-Hope was shouting a lot."

J-Hope: "My voice kept getting louder because they couldn't hear me!"

Jimin: "And you got mad because you had to get loud."

J-Hope: "That's right!"

Fuck, I love BTS cooking episodes.